Sinterguth in Panem
by DrWandel
Summary: Timotheus Sinterguth, from a very rich and influential family, establishes a residence and non-profit research site in Panem's District 12. While working on green energy, ecological farming and such, he meets Seam residents and also a very special girl called Rue; her situation calls for his attention and will change his life later on. [AU] STORY IS ABANDONED
1. Chapter 1 - My new residence

[Author's Notes: The story is about young Timotheus Sinterguth (background of the name to be explained later on in the story), member of a very rich and influential family, establishing a residence and research site in Panem's poor suburb 'District 12'. He is going to meet a very special girl called Rue, and her situation calls for his attention. Above and beyond that, I am mixing in aspects of modern real life, such as ecological farming, green energy and such. The "T" rating is not even required for the first few chapters, but there is a romance coming (much) later.

Some names and places are taken from the Hunger Games books, but the story is AU with an OC as the main male character. In this story, the districts are not so far from each other and more like suburbs of a big city called Panem.

There is a little bit of 'Everlark' going on, but only in the background. If you want to find a full Everlark romance/relation story, you'd better look elsewhere.

Disclaimer and acknowledgments: Some background and specifically some character names and traits are taken from the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Without the background and inspiration provided by the author, this story would not have been possible. In addition, I have also been inspired by some other fanfiction stories:

"When the Moon Fell in Love with the Sun" by Mejhiren

"Alone in a Crowded Room" by wollaston

"The Bucket List" by Meadowlark27

and specifically: "Do Not Go Gentle" by Dracoisalooker76

ending Author's Notes]

**Chapter 1: My new residence in District 12**

The complex was probably the most modern and expansive one District 12 had ever seen. A large mansion with underground parking, an adjacent office and lab building, and a huge mixed forest and farming area had all been purchased and built over the last 12 months in record time, right at the end of the main road leading here from the center of Panem. Looking south, the city lights were visible in the distance, but looking north, one could almost believe to be 'in the middle of nowhere', with meadows and forests sloping up to the mountain range.

Well outside of the city, we had access to lots of nature, but we could get into the city within half an hour by car. This being District 12, long neglected and inhabited almost exclusively by poor people, there was a train stop further down, a single bus line and a few school bus stops, and most locals tried to make their living inside the district. The district had an area called the 'Merchant's quarter' with a butcher, a baker, some other shops, and most of the not quite that poor citizens living. There was also the 'Seam', with most of the really poor people living in small houses, huts, and shacks. Electricity was available in the Merchant's quarter, but only part of the Seam. Most Seam houses also did not have public water supply. Overall, the Seam looked not much better than some Slum area in other cities, although the residents there at least seemed to keep their area clean.

The Seam was one of the reasons I had settled here. My family was very rich and ran a huge set of companies, and part of the family riches were used for non-profit purposes via a foundation. The 'Sinterguth Foundation' aimed at supporting activities for the benefit of humanity as a whole (such as green energy) and for the poorer part of the population (like getting access to clean water for everybody). Recently, the company's board of directors, headed by my grandfather, had selected the Seam of district 12 as a place for a research site and support facility, and I had volunteered to lead the operation. Although I had only just passed my 21st birthday, my grandfather had entrusted the whole operation to me, and I was both proud of his confidence and determined to not disappoint him.

On this fine day end of April I could finally move in, being on my own. Since the day of my birth I had always had family around me, during kindergarten, school, and university time (all in the city of 'Seeburg' my family was headquartered in), and now I was directing activities here on my own. Of course, I had some support team. First there was the Miller family, who was going to run the house and garden; they were living in a separate apartment in the mansion itself. Second, there was my director of operations, who would help me to get things organized, and third I had an experienced farmer to govern the field and farming experiments. Later on I planned to hire a forester and/or hunter for further working the forest, and long term I wanted to provide work for some local residents as well.

While I was proudly watching my new mansion (grandfather insisted that I live in style) gleaming in the bright sunshine, the school bus had stopped a few hundred meters away down the road, at its final destination. From here, the Seam kids would have to walk to their homes mostly along unpaved roads, while the Merchant kids had been dropped one stop earlier. A small blonde girl, whom I had noticed before a few times, passed by the entrance to my property and stopped, looking like in awe. On a whim I decided to greet her, walked over and said hello. I almost expected her to move on and be shy, but far from it – she kind of jumped up and down and said very excitedly: "Oh, hi, my name is Primrose, but everybody calls me Prim."

I smiled and replied: "Pleasure to meet you, Prim – my name is Timotheus, and if you like, you can call me Tim". Normally, I did not like to be called 'Tim' but rather preferred my full name, but somehow I wouldn't mind if she called me 'Tim'. Also, most adults would have introduced themselves with their last names, but not me.

She beamed: "Is that where you're going to live, Tim? Isn't that a real huge house?"

I smiled back and told her: "Yes, this is where I am going to live, and it is indeed a huge place. But this is not just a place of residence, but also a research facility, and quite a few people are going to work here." And, as I liked her way, I added: "Prim, if you'd like to see the inside of the house, you can visit me sometime next week when I am settled; I'd be honored to show you around!"

She looked at me with her bright blue eyes like I was joking: "Are you serious about that? I can really come in?"

I nodded and confirmed, and she happily told me: "I will sure be looking forward to next week! But now I need to run home so that my sister is not getting worried – Bye!"

For a few minutes I watched her running uphill into the Seam area, with the tail of her blouse hanging out of her skirt, and I somehow felt happy – it looked like I had found a friend.

When I woke up in the next morning, I first wondered for a moment where I was, before I remembered that this had been the first night in my new house. I stretched and got up to open the curtains; some snow capped mountain tops were not far and greeted me, and I liked that view. The mountains were rich in coal, and I knew that a lot of Seam men worked in the coal mines owned by a Mr. Snow. I had heard rumors that safety standards were sometimes ignored there, but of course there wasn't any hard evidence. As a long term goal I envisioned to reduce the area's dependency on coal and have more people use green energy instead, but that also implied that we'd have to find other jobs for them. Well, I could not address all issues on the first day, and thus I decided to have breakfast first. After a shower, I dressed and went down to the ground floor, where Mrs. Miller already had my morning meal ready.

When my stomach was sufficiently filled, I moved out of the house and walked over to the main operations and research building, which housed the offices. At this time, only my director of operations, Mr. Haymitch Abernathy, was employed here. I had hired him against the recommendation of some people, knowing that he was frequently drunk. However, I also had been told that he was a brilliant organizer and knew the area and the local residents like almost nobody else. With that in mind, I had given him a contract and told him that he needed to be more or less sober at least during work hours. He had first hesitated, but when I had outlined some of the projects in had in mind here and he consequently realized to what extent the Seam population could benefit from it, his ambition was fueled and he promised to cut back on his alcohol consumption. He was supposed to hire a few locals to work here together with a few experts to come in from our family headquarters, and I was curious to see how that would work out. He confirmed that he was ready to work: "Boy, just give me a few days, and I'll find the right people to work for us." He had the habit of calling me 'boy', but as he could well be my uncle, I did not mind, and I was actually glad that we had been able to get adjusted to each other quickly, cooperating nicely over the last days and weeks at least.

Taking my leave from him, I moved out of the building again to check the farm area. Accessible via a narrow paved road, the main farmhouse was, together with car park and barns, located in the midst of some fields, about fifteen minutes of walking from my mansion. Most of the fields were not yet in use, and there was plenty of space between them for bushes, tress, and hedges. Walking along the road, one couldn't avoid to see various birds populating those bushes and hedges, and some larger birds (hawks I guessed) circling high up in the air. A professor of agriculture at my home town university had strongly advertised the bushes between fields, as the birds at home there would help immensely with fighting bugs, caterpillars, and insects threatening the harvest. This should allow to minimize the amount of pesticides which needed to be applied (I wanted to get it down to zero, but did not yet know if this was a realistic goal).

When I got to the farmhouse, I was greeted by Mrs. Brown and guided inside. Her family (Mr. Brown, Mrs. Brown, and one daughter) had already settled in, and I discussed near term plans with them. They'd need a few farmhands and some more equipment, and I encouraged them to get things rolling and have Haymitch hire the help they needed. A few days ago we had already discussed some guidelines on what to grow on the fields. Emphasis was going to be on whatever was growing nicely in the climate here (cold winters, lots of precipitation) and what could help to nourish people who could not afford to spend a lot of money on fancy food. Wheat and rye was on the table, together with some vegetables like zucchini or beans and also herbs and spices. Mr. and Mrs. Miller had done similar experiments before in another area, and their daughter Camilla, who had just started to attend university, actually wanted to major in modern agriculture. I had promised her right away that she'd have a job here after graduation and could even work in between.

On another side of the farming area there was an open field which was not supposed to used for farming, but rather for windmills and wind generators. The wind turbines had not yet arrived, though, but there were plans to experiment with different kinds of turbines and rotor blade systems plus with methods of energy storage. Finally, the farm also bordered an expansive forest, which was also part of my property. At some later time, I planned to have some experts find out which trees were best suited for this climate zone, resistant enough against bugs, and which plants growing in the forest might be able to assist in nurturing people. I would get back to that part at a later time, as I first needed to get the main facility started. I might have to think about building a fence around the forest once I wanted to get specific operations started in there; right now it was open to everybody, and Haymitch had told me that some Seam residents probably went in there for hunting and picking berries and such. There even were a few lakes in the forest, and I wanted to find out later if there were some fish in them.

Thus, all together, we had four main areas: Mansion and main facility close to the main road, the farming area behind, an open area on some kind of plateau for later use (wind energy and such), and finally the big forest, bordering on the Seam area. The unpaved road into the Seam branched off the main road not far from my mansion, whereas the Merchants's Quarter was adjacent to the main road further down, a little closer to the city center.


	2. Chapter 2 - Getting acquainted with Prim

**Chapter 2: Getting acquainted with Prim**

On Monday of the following week, I was curious if Prim would show up again, and I found out that I was actually looking forward to her visit. To be prepared I had bought a few cheese buns and other pastry from the Mellark bakery (down in the Merchant's area), and I was looking out of my window to see when the school bus would come. In the morning I had been out in the fields discussing some seeding details with Mr. Brown in bright sunshine, but now the sun was hidden behind dark clouds, and just as the bus stopped, the first drops of rain came down. While the kids were starting to walk along the road to the Seam, I saw Prim heading straight towards the entrance to my house, and I managed to get her inside just before the rain was starting to pour down. She looked up at me and smiled: "Good thing you invited me – I would have been soaked within a few minutes during my walk home!" I smiled back and agreed: "Yes, you would have, I guess. Would you want to sit down with me and have a snack?" Prim nodded, so that her pigtails flew around: "Yes, I'd like that" and I guided her to my dining area where Mrs. Miller had already prepared two cups of hot chocolate and the cheese buns, together with a few other snacks. "Cheese buns are my favorites!" she happily exclaimed while sitting down. I encouraged her: "Please sit down and enjoy."

For a few minutes we were silently devouring our meal, but soon she started to chat again and told me a little more about herself. She lived in one of the smaller houses in the Seam together with her mother and her older sister Katniss; her father had died a few years ago in a mining accident. Katniss, I was told, was an experienced hunter and traded squirrels and rabbits for bread and other necessities. Her mother made a little money as some kind of healer, helping sick residents who could not afford to see a doctor with potions and medical services; she, Prim, was also learning that line of business. Actually, she dreamed of being a nurse or even a medical doctor in future, but knew that she would never be able to afford that kind of education. Panem did not believe in equal opportunities for everybody, and almost all of the interesting and well paid jobs were only available to those who could either pay enough money for the proper education or get their way in via connections and bribing (or at least that was what Haymitch had told me recently).

I also told a little about my background and what I was planing to do her, and she was a very interested listener. In fact, she was almost enthusiastic when she heard about my ideas to do something to help the local residents, and she provided a few comments I would not have expected from a preteen girl. After some time, though, my young visitor suddenly looked up and said: "Oh, I believe that my sister will start to get worried about me; I guess that I need to go home". Looking out of the windows and still seeing dark clouds and many raindrops falling into the puddles, I objected: "It is still raining a lot; wouldn't you want to wait until later?" But she did not want to get her sister in worries and insisted that she needed to go now. I suggested: "There is no way I let you walk all through the Seam in this rain. Please allow me to drive you home in my car." She looked at me: "You would do that for me?" I confirmed and told her: "I will, and I will say Hello to your mother, too."

I lead her downstairs to the underground parking area. Knowing that the Seam roads were mostly unpaved, I selected my Jeep and waved her in. I could see that she was not used to ride in fancy cars, and I had to encourage her to actually take a seat on the soft leather upholstery. The roads in the Seam were indeed in a bad shape, and I made a note to myself to see if this could be improved in future. She guided me to her house, and I parked in front of the entrance, noticing that the house did have neither a garage nor some kind of driveway. Most likely, Seam residents did not own cars, I assumed. Before I could get into the house with her, though, somebody (it must have been her sister) stepped out, grabbed her, and closed the door. I was not sure what to do, but decided not to push the issue and drive home again.

For a while Prim did not come to see me again, so that one day when I saw here walking home from the school bus stop, I intercepted her to confirm that she was welcome anytime again to visit me. However, she looked at me sadly and told me that her sister had more or less forbidden her to see me again – she did not believe in socializing with non-Seam people and expected I would want to exploit her sister. I was surprised to hear that: "Is your sister your legal guardian?" She answered: "No, my mum is, but I usually do what my sister tells me, although this time it is hard" and with that she left.

Hm, it looked like that sister was maybe a little overprotective, and I was not willing to lose my first friend here just like this. I guess that I needed to contact her mother, and thus I wrote a letter to her, explaining who I was, what my intentions were, and that I'd welcome to have the opportunity to have Prim introduce me to the area. I specifically suggested that Mrs. Everdeen (I had noted name and address when I had been parked there) and Prim (and, if applicable, other family members) should visit me next Saturday evening for dinner, and I'd send a car to pick them up. The letter was given to the mail right away, and now I had to wait and see.

Well, on the agreed date I sent Mr. Miller with the minivan to pick up the Everdeen family members, while Mrs. Miller had dinner ready in the oven. I had suggested that they – the Miller family (Mr. Miller, Mrs. Miller, and their children Karl and Monica) also sit with us, and I eagerly waited for the van to come back. Fortunately, it did not come back empty, but Mrs. Everdeen and Prim were there. I bade them welcome to my home and we started to have dinner first. Soon the ice was broken and nice talking was going on. Monica Miller was only one year older than Prim, and they were soon engaged in some girl talk. Karl was almost an adult already, and he helped me to explain what we were actually doing here, although this was not yet clearly defined in all details. Mrs. Everdeen could not resist to comment: "Mrs. Miller, the lamb stew you cooked is really excellent. I wish that we had access to all the herbs and other ingredients you must have been using." Mrs. Miller replied: "Oh, we are just starting a herb garden outside. If you want to get a few plants, I am sure that something can be arranged." I cut in: "Actually, I was thinking about setting up some kind of herb garden somewhere in the Seam. Part of the work here will be directed towards finding out which plants grow best and are most useful for the population. I'd just need a person or two to tend the garden." While I said that, Prim was jumping up and down: "I can do that! I know most herbs and medical plants, and I would love to tend to them!" Mrs. Everdeen nodded and confirmed: "This is true – for her age, Prim is already very knowledgeable in herbs and plants, and I believe that she would be capable of tending a small garden. Maybe one or two of her friends could also help, and I can provide some advice as well." I pondered that for a few seconds before responding: "Well, originally I had thought about hiring a couple of adults to do that. However, having local children tending a garden might actually be beneficial, and they could grow into the task. Let's find out soon where we can find a proper place for that." Of course, Mrs. Everdeen also provided her explicit permission for Prim to visit me again in future.

Only a few days later Prim came to see me again on her walk home from school, smiling all the way while walking up to my house.

"You are lucky to find me here at this time", I told her, "as I am spending a lot of time outside visiting the facilities. But I have left word with my housekeepers that you can come in at any time and at least get something to eat and drink when I am not here."

She beamed at me, and as it was a nice and sunny day, I suggested that we walk a little outside. We climbed on a hill next to the house, and from there we could see all the lands belonging to the place, so that I could explain the details to her. When I pointed out the forest and that I planned to hire some hunters and foresters later on, she said: "I know a perfect person to hunt in this forest!"

I looked at her: "Really? Who would that be?"

She told me: "My sister Katniss is the best archer I have ever seen. She can shoot a squirrel in the eye from twenty paces or so!"

I was getting curious: "Is that so? Where does she practice?"

Prim did not hesitate to elaborate: "She hunts in that big forest down there two or three times a week, and she's really good!" Having said that, she hesitated, and continued meekly: "Oh, I guess that she hunts in your forest. We were not aware of that ...".

I comforted the blonde girl: "No, you could not have been aware of that, as this forest had been neglected for decades, and I only purchased it very recently. At least for the time being, people can still go in there and hunt. At a later time, though, I may have to stop that for the benefits of my experiments."

Prim was silent for a few minutes, but than raised her voice again: "Timotheus, do you know that the Seam relies on people hunting in there? Without the game Katniss and a few other hunters bring home, some of the poorer citizens might starve!"

I looked at her and admitted: "No, I was not aware of that. However, please be assured that I will find a way to compensate for that. It is not my intention to make life harder for everybody, but rather to help, and I will need people to tell me more about local conditions here!" And I continued: "Having somebody like your sister working for me might be great – I'd much prefer hunting be done with bow and arrow rather than guns, but I was doubtful if I could find experienced bow hunters – do you think your sister would want to work for me?"

Prim shook her head: "Katniss is very guarded and does not easily trust people. She would only assume that you'd want to exploit us. She is already furious that my mum allowed me to visit you again. Maybe she'll learn over time that you're actually a friend."

I thoughtfully looked at Prim and asked: "So you do consider me as a friend?"

She nodded and confirmed: "Yes, I do. Maybe this is premature, but my feelings tell me that I am right."

I smiled at her and also nodded: "Great; let's be friends! Actually, you are my first friend here in this area, so that I am really happy about that!"

Prim said: "I have a lot of friends in the Seam, but almost none outside."

I was not surprised to hear that; a girl like her was easy to like, and she was probably quite popular at school. I guessed that I needed to learn a bit more about local habits and behavior.


	3. Chapter 3 - District 12 residents

**Chapter 3: Meeting district 12 residents**

Over the last few weeks I had collected quite some information about the residents in district 12, and I wanted to visit some of them to learn more about the area and the overall living conditions. Later on I would also want to look around in adjacent districts, but as my site was part of district 12, of course I wanted to start with my local environment. First on my list were the shops, almost exclusively located in the Merchant's Quarter. There was a bakery, a butchery, a shoe store, a couple of general stores, and of course the Mayor's residence; they also had a small railway station, mostly for supplying the merchants. Passenger trains were only scheduled for a few times a day. My site director, Haymitch Abernathy, had provided me with some initial information so that I roughly knew what to expect and where to go.

Early on a Monday morning I decided to first visit the bakery. Naturally, lots of people were there in the morning, and I had to wait a few minutes before it was my turn. While purchasing some bread and pastries, I asked to talk to the owner about some business, and a younger man, who looked to be in his mid to late teenage years, asked me to step outside of the shop soon. He introduced himself: "I am Peeta Mellark, one of the three sons of the house. My father owns the bakery, and he, my brothers, and myself work closely together. What can I do for you?"

I also introduced myself and asked: "As a part of my plans I want to experiment with farming in a way which best helps the needs of the residents. So, I am curious towards where you get wheat and rye, or rather the flour extracted from those from? Wouldn't you need a lot of flour for bread and pastries? What about the sugar you need?"

He looked down: "Sadly, we get the flour from other districts, and the price is way too high, as trading between districts is controlled by a Panem agency. Farmers in this district and around seem to have trouble growing reasonable wheat in this climate. I do not like this, because it prevents us from offering cheaper bread, and a lot of the Seam locals cannot afford to buy the normal bread. Sometimes I feel tempted to offer day old bread for free, but even if the proud Seam people accepted it, my mother would never allow that. About the sugar, this is imported from warmer regions south of Panem, and it is also not very cheap."

I understood and offered: "You know, the company I work for have bred different varieties of wheat and rye, and we're just starting to find out which ones can grow here on my fields. Would you be willing to test samples when we're ready and let us know which varieties are good or maybe not good for baking? If you do, I'll make sure that your bakery get first deliveries at reduced prices. In addition, I'd like to find out if sugar can be gained from sugar beets with sufficient quality."

Peeta looked up: "This sounds interesting, Mr. Sinterguth – please count me in!"

I confirmed: "Then we have a deal, and please call me Timotheus."

He smiled and said: "And I am Peeta to you."

My time at the butcher was shorter, but I had a nice chat with Rooba, learning that she got almost all of her meat from slaughterhouses in other districts, mainly district 10. She said: "For some reason, the meat I get is horrendously expensive and not affordable at least for Seam residents. We could get some meat from hunting, but hunting is illegal in Panem's public forests." Well, for a later time I would want to look into finding hunters for my forests, but I did not mention that just yet.

I also spent a little time at the shoe store and the general stores, but I did not have a specific business agreement in mind at this time, and thus I only I introduced myself. Later in the morning I rang the bell at the Mayor's office and gave him an overview on what I planned to do. Mr. Undersee, Mayor of District 12, turned out to be a very friendly and jovial person, and he was quite happy to hear about my plans in more details. He had of course been introduced to the general outlines before when I had purchased the ground and applied for special permissions for what I intended to do, but he was glad to get some updates, and I promised to keep him up to date on current events. He admitted: "I have always been unhappy about the way the Seam is set up and how little the city government is willing to do to change this; my own freedom to make decisions here is very limited, you know, as my work is controlled and supervised by the city council. For some reason, they consider the Seam just good enough to provide workers for the coal mines, and I suspect that Mr. Snow might have some influence on that. It is really good to see somebody doing something about it!" Before he let me go, he added: "My daughter Madge will probably also like a lot what you plan to do. Although she is still at school, she might be willing to help with some administrative work when she has a little time, and she could also serve as liaison between you and my office." I promised to consider that.

The next day was one of the few public holidays, and I had asked permission from Prim´s mother to claim her all day long and give me a tour through the area, specifically the Seam. Her mother had agreed, but insisted that I also took Gale and Rory Hawthorne with me for the tour. They were reluctant at first, but I promised to pay for whatever they wanted at the bakery. The Hawthorne family had also lost a man in the mining accident, and Mrs. Hawthorne, living not far from the Hawthorne residence, had to raise her four children alone. There was Gale, already 19 years old and working in the mines, Rory in Prim´s age, and the younger kids Vick and Posy. While we walked around, I noticed Rory keeping close to Prim, and a few times I thought I noticed him touching her when he thought nobody was looking. This looked to be quite innocent, but maybe there was more behind it; however, that was none of my business.

Gale showed us most of the Seam houses, and most of them indeed looked like they needed repair to done extent. In general, houses and huts were kept reasonably clean, but apparently getting proper building material was either difficult or expensive or both. Gale further explained that most Seam men worked in the mines, but pay was not great – they worked there because there were few alternatives. Even the Seam residents who were smart enough for some other jobs were not usually hired by a merchant, due to century old prejudices. Most of them also were too poor to even attempt finding work in another district; besides, districts were specialized and did not have many opportunities for employees from other districts. To be honest, I found this specialization overdone, but Panem had some historical background, as I had heard.

Gale showed us part of the old fence at the forest border and lead us towards a lake not far behind. One could easily see that the forest was not really cultivated, but this was probably beneficial for game and fish. We could indeed see an abundance of tracks and footprints, and Gale admitted that he sometimes he used snares to catch some smaller animals, usually with great success, but that his job as coal miner left very little time for that 'hobby'.

Getting back from the forest we got to some kind of small market Gale explained to be 'The Hob'. Rather than buying something with money they did not have, people usually traded for other merchandise or for favors. For instance, a person knowledgeable in healing plants, like Mrs. Everdeen, could offer some free herbal medicine as payment for a few bowls of soup. The market was run by an older woman everybody called 'Greasy Sae'. I used the opportunity to buy lunch for everybody, and the market operator gladly did accept coins from me.

Further walking through the Seam, I asked my companions about a potential location for a herb garden. It would need to be easily accessible, get a decent amount of sunshine during the day, and ideally fenced in to keep animals out. Also, a water source needed to be accessible. After pondering this for a few minutes, Gale said he knew such a place and he guided us to a plot of about 500 square meters, located about halfway between the Everdeen and the Hawthorne residence. The place had a couple of smaller trees, lots of bushes and grass, and some remains of a fence around. A small creek passed right through the grounds, and the kids confirmed that this creek was never running dry throughout the year. Gale believed that this plot was owned by the town and I needed to ask the Mayor about ownership. As today was a public holiday, I'd have to do this on one of the following days.

For now, we had our tour mostly completed, and I lead my companions down to the Merchant's quarter with the Mellark bakery. Despite of the holiday, the bakery was open for a few hours, and I allowed all of my young friends to pick whatever they wanted. When I followed my companions back to the Seam, none of them was able to talk as they were all chewing happily. While observing that, I wondered if I should also think about setting up some kind of soup kitchen for the poor here in the Seam. Looking at some kids like Prim and Rory, I could not help noticing how skinny they were, and I suspected that the nourishment they received was lacking both in quantity and quality. I would have to talk to the Mayor about this at a later time, too.

Following up on my herb garden plans, a couple of days later I went to the town hall (which was for some reason called the 'Justice Hall' here) and inquired about the area I had found. The clerk confirmed that this was owned by the town, and I could purchase it if I wanted to. Naturally, I was happy to hear that and got the required paperwork started right away. It turned out that bureaucracy in the district could be surprisingly easy and quick once money was coming in, which did not really surprise me. They charged a little more than what I thought the small plot should cost, but I went ahead anyway.

When I walked back, I met Prim on her way home from school right next to my new plot, and told her: "Now I am the owner of this nice area of land, and as I mentioned before, I plan to start a small garden here. This is not going to be a place where I need to make profit, but more an experiment to find out what we can grow to actually help out the locals around. Prim, are you still in to work here?" Prim looked around and said: "Sure I am. But, while I know how to tend plants and herbs, I am unsure about cleaning up first. There are too many stones and pebbles here, and somebody obviously even dumped some trash.". And indeed, there was some work to do first before we could even start to think about starting with the plants. I replied: "Of course you are right. I will have somebody get this plot organized and cleaned up first, and later on we will see what we can do. Meanwhile, you can ask around and try to find a couple of other children who might want to work here".

A few days later, Mr. Brown started to get busy with a couple of his new farmhands, and they were working on removing some trash, rebuilding the fence around, plowing the soil, checking the creek's riverbed, and stuff like that. I was looking forward to seeing the herb garden started.


	4. Chapter 4 - Prim's 12th birthday

**Chapter 4: Prim's 12th birthday**

One day in late spring I found a letter in my mailbox, and there was a formal invitation to a birthday party – Prim´s. I was kind of excited about that, as it was my first invitation, and I was looking forward to spend some time in the Seam with a family. However, when I saw Prim next, I asked her if she really wanted me to be there: "Look, you will probably have some friends around from school and from the neighborhood – are you sure I fit in?"

She nodded and said: "I want to have all of my friends with me, and you are one of them!"

I replied: "Well, I am honored, and it will be a pleasure to accept your invitation. However, I do not intend to come empty handed – do you have a specific idea what kind of present you'd like to get?"

She hesitated to answer, but finally said: "Well, if you don't mind and if it's not impertinent to ask, I have never ever had a real birthday cake, as we really cannot afford them. If you could bring a small cake, this would make me very happy!"

I nodded and told her: "I will see what I can do."

A few days later I showed up at the Mellark bakery and waited until Peeta was available. I explained about Prim´s birthday and that I wanted to bring not just a cake, but a very special Prim birthday cake. When he heard about that, he started thinking a little and then told me: "Maybe we can actually do this together. Would you mind taking a cake from me as well?" I agreed but asked: "Why would you want to send a cake even though you are not even invited?" He smiled: "I do have my reasons, but let's just say that Prim is a friend of mine at school, and I'd like to do her a favor." I noticed that there was something he did not tell me, but that was none of my business, so that I just nodded and suggested: "We could prepare a couple of cakes and some additional pastry, such as muffins and cheese buns, or whatever you think Prim´s favorites are, plus maybe some hot chocolate, and split the cost – what do you think?" He liked the idea and promised to have everything ready in a week, so that I could pick it up – he would have to work and would not be able to present the cake himself, and he also was not invited.

Fortunately, on Prim´s birthday the sun was shining brightly, and around noon time I could see her bouncing out from the school bus and running up to the Seam as fast as she could, followed by some other girls. There was some happy girl, and I was looking forward to the afternoon. I had already told Mrs. Everdeen before that I was going to bring over cake and hot chocolate for everybody, so that she might want to skip lunch, and she had liked the idea; Katniss, being in the same room, had scowled, but this seemed to be normal for her. So, in the early afternoon I took my Jeep and picked up the cakes and pastries from the bakery. While loading my car, I noticed that not only were the cakes done were nicely and expertly, Peeta had also prepared some cookies formed as katniss and primrose plants, including colorful decorations, and I was impressed by the artistic gift which had apparently flown into that task. When I drove on to the Everdeen residence, Prim was already waiting impatiently outside, and as I stepped outside of my car, she immediately threw her skinny arms around my waist and beamed: "I am glad that you could make it!" I replied: "Wait until you see what I brought!" and opened the trunk. With the help of the some boys I carefully transported my gifts to the table, and everybody was instantly silent. Prim had warned me that Seam residents very rarely got to eat cakes, and indeed it looked like this was a great surprise. Mrs. Everdeen looked at me and said: "Well, this is way too much for a birthday present!" I responded: "Yes, it is, for just me, but half of it is sent from the bakery with the best wishes from Peeta Mellark!" Mrs. Everdeen was confused: "Prim, why would Peeta send you a present?" Prim offered her explanation: "Sometimes, at school, you know that merchant kids are not nice to seam kids. Peeta is different, and he frequently shares some pastries even with Seam children, and when some of his merchant friends are saying something bad about us, he scolds them and protects us. He is a very special friend at school, not only for me, but also for others – I need to say 'Thank You' to him as soon as I can!" Katniss did not like what she heard: "I do not trust the merchant kids. When they're nice to girls, they usually just want to get in their pants." Prim objected: "No, Katniss, Peeta is not like that at all – why don't you want to see this! Look, he has even made some cookies formed like katniss and primrose plants! This is so nice!"

At that point Mrs. Everdeen decided to interrupt the discussion and invited everybody to start eating. Apparently she had made it known that the guests should skip lunch because nourishment would be provided, and all of the guests were eating with that much gusto that I was afraid for a few minutes that the cakes might not be enough. However, at the end they were, but practically nothing was left. Prim hugged me and admitted that this was her best birthday present since her father had died. Prim also introduced me to her friends, and while I was not able to remember all names, I recalled the Hawthorne kids (some of them I had met before) and specifically Rue, a petite eleven year old girl with chocolate brown skin, shoulder length dark brown hair, and very dark brown eyes, who looked little like the other children around. Actually, she did not really look like Prim´s age, but more like eight or nine years old, but this might be partially due to the common malnourishment in some of the districts. Rue was very quiet, but obviously a close friend of Prim´s. Prim told me that she did not live in district 12, but they were in the same class at school. When I looked at Rue, she did not really look happy, but somehow bothered or sad, which was quite a contrast to all of the other children around. Also, I noticed that Rue was sitting by herself most of the time, and the other children seemed to avoid her; only Prim and the Hawthorne kids sometimes got close to her. I decided to talk to Prim about that when she was going to visit me next time.

Before the party was over, I suggested that everybody should follow me, as I wanted to show them how the future herb garden had worked out. Mr. Brown had finished the plot's initial preparation, and I was looking forward to show it off. Thus we walked over and found a low but sturdy fence enclosing the ground, all trash and larger stones removed, and some plant beds being prepared. Mr. Brown had even installed a fancy kind of water screw to get water up from the creek level to the garden level for easier distribution. Last but not least there was a small pavilion with a table and a couple of benches where potential garden workers could rest. There was still some more preparation work to be done, but this was a good start. Mrs. Everdeen had come with us and admired it: "Well, you have done some work here. This plot of land might indeed be suitable for plants and herbs as you intend, if taken care of properly." And she also added, jokingly: "Now we just need a small playground so that the children working here and tending the plants can also play in between!" Hearing that I asked: "Where is the next playground, by the way?" And I was told: "There is none at all in the Seam. Children here are supposed to be busy with school and chores."

Over the next few days I was busy with work at the site, and specifically I authorized the hiring of more hands for the farm and the wind generator area. In addition, more infrastructure needed to be set up, including an office help for Haymitch. While talking to Haymitch, I used the opportunity to ask him about district 11, where Rue was supposedly from. I was told: "District 11 is about as poor as district 12 is. They do have useful natural resources with fertile soil, which they use for orchards, fields, and growing cattle. However, locals in that district are usually not allowed to eat what they grow, as most of it is exported to other districts and other parts of the country. The few rich squires of the district own almost all of the land, and they make sure to maximize their own profits rather than properly sustaining the citizens, which they mostly treat a cheap work force."

I did not like that at all: "Has this been going on for a long time?"

Haymitch nodded: "Long enough so that nobody dares to change it, I am afraid. Above and beyond that the situation in Panem´s districts has been kept like this for decades by rich moguls like Mr. Snow, the coal mine owner, who prefers to keep the population poor and weak so that nobody dares to complain or so."

Thinking about the malnourishment situation again, I inquired further: "Haymitch, when looking at the skinny children in district 12, I wonder if we can set up some kind of soup kitchen for those in need; do you think that this can be done?"

My site director carefully replied: "I am sure that Mayor Undersee is open for an idea like that. However, we need to be careful to not incur the city council's wrath and might have to check with them, too. In addition, specifically Seam people might see that as charity and forbid their children to eat there. Let me think about this for some time and talk to the Mayor, and I will get back to you later. But it is a good idea, for sure."

I replied: "Well for district 12, at least, we are going to change something, as you know, with or against Mr. Snow. Let's see later one if we can also improve the situation in some other districts!"

Haymitch smiled: "Boy, you have your work cut out for you, but it is real good to see your enthusiasm, and I am fully behind you – it is about time somebody cares!"

One week later Prim was again coming to my place for a visit, and I did have a few questions I needed to ask:

"Prim, when we were at your birthday party last week, I was told that there was no playground in the Seam. Where do you kids play usually?"

She told me: "We sometimes play along the creek or in the meadow, and some of us like to climb trees, but we do not have an awful lot of time for playing. Most of us who are a little older have to help with chores and do something to help the family fed. I, for instance, take care of my goat."

I replied: "So, even if there was a playground, you might not have a lot of time using it?"

She disagreed: "The younger kids would, but they'd need to be supervised. Kids of my age and older would not have much time, true."

Another question of mine followed: "There was a girl at your party you introduced as Rue. She was mostly sitting by herself and almost nobody was talking to her as far as I could see. She seems to be a very nice and kind person, but did not look very happy. Do you happen to know what's going on?"

Prim looked unhappy and explained: "School kids in District 12 are prejudiced a lot, and most parents tell their kids to stick to other kids from the same area only. Thus, Merchant kids tend to not talk to Seam kids much, and as Merchant kids are usually pale and blond whereas Seam kids have darker skin and dark hair, this is normally the dividing line. I am different, because I am Seam but look like Merchant, but I am an exception. Now, we share a school between district 11 and district 12, and although some other kids from district 11 also have dark skin, Rue is the only one in our class, and practically nobody wants to socialize with her. I am sometimes mocked because I do talk to her and even consider her my friend. Very few other school kids support me on that, and Peeta Mellark is one of them."

I had heard about that kind of behavior before, and while other regions of the country had been able to overcome this issue and unfair behavior decades ago, Panem still was, to some extent, lost in the past. Little did I know at that time that Rue would eventually be a very important part of my future.


	5. Chapter 5 - Planing for a fun day

**Chapter 5: Planing for a fun day**

In the evenings, I quite frequently thought about what I had learned about the local situation here when lying in bed, and I wondered if the social or the technical issues were actually more important. A couple of months ago, when I had started to live and work here on the site, I was eager to dive into technical issues like energy creation and storage and green farming, but during the last days and weeks the social issues, specifically those related to the poor Seam citizens, kept my mind more busy than the technical issues. Maybe that was what my grandfather had intended, and he wanted me to learn how to deal with people in addition to addressing technical aspects. I was not sure how good I was in doing that, but I was certainly going to try hard. Although, handling all aspects might be quite challenging, and I realized that I needed to identify the right people to trust and help me with all of that.

That was going to be a critical issue, indeed – how did I know whom to really trust? Haymitch had been easy, as even my grandfather knew of him and had recommended him for the position. The farmers had also been selected and hired before, but I had picked my housekeepers, and now I even had some children working together with me. When sleep finally claimed me, I sometimes dreamed about a group of kids telling me what to do rather than the other way round.

A few weeks later Prim came for another visit, and she looked a little bit concerned. When I asked her if something bothered her, she started to explain: "Can you recall my friend Rue who was also at my birthday party?"

I nodded and confirmed: "This pretty dark skinned petite girl sitting by her own most of the time? Sure I do. How is she doing?"

Prim continued: "She is going to have her 12th birthday Wednesday next week. It would be really nice for her to have some kind of celebration, but her parents are quite poor and have to work hard all of the time in the orchards and forests of district 11. It looks like this is going to be another birthday for her without anything special, and I am very unhappy about that, as I know that she will be sad."

Hearing that I asked: "Do you know how her parents think about it?"

The young blonde girl nodded: "Her parents are also very unhappy about the situation, but do not know what to do about it. They're not even going to get the day off work to spend with their daughter."

Pondering this for a minute or two I finally responded: "Hm – do you know if Rue likes to go to the zoo, and would you also like to go?"

Prim looked up in surprise: "The zoo? I was there last when my Dad was still alive, maybe five years ago. And I do not know if Rue was ever there, but she'd sure be enthusiastic to go!" And Prim added: "But getting in is too expensive, and her parents never have time!"

I countered: "I have not been in the Panem National Zoo at all, and I'd like to visit. The problem is, that I do not like to go all on my own, and I would have much more fun to have some friends with me. Do you think that I might be able to find such friends?"

Prim looked at me doubtfully: "Are you serious about that, Timotheus?"

Of course I confirmed this: "I am, of course. Having a couple of 12 year old girls jumping around and having fun together with me is going to be so much more enjoyable than going on my own!"

Prim could not believe it: "Timotheus, you are strange, but in a very nice way. Most adults would not say that. Why are you so different?"

Not minding at all to be told that I was strange, I took that as a compliment, and I told her: "In the last few years when I was at home and studying, I worked as youth group leader in our church community for a couple of years, and the age group I had was in the range of about 10 to 13. For a reason I do not fully understand, almost all of the kids coming to our weekly meeting were girls. We had lots of fun and I dearly miss them. Having Rue and you around for a day would be really great, believe me."

Prim again shook her head: "Wow – you really are different, and I guess that you are serious about that. So I guess that you plan to 'abduct' Rue and me for half a day at the zoo?"

I nodded and said: "Yes, indeed, that was the plan. I am sure that your mother does not mind, but of course I will need to talk to Rue's parents first. Do you think that we can invite them here for lunch, with you also being here?"

Prim liked the idea: "Oh, yes, we sure can. Why don't you write the invitation so that I can pass it on to Rue at school, and we'll see what happens."

This being said, I went into my study to write the invitation and handed it over to Prim in a closed envelope. I also added a note to Mrs. Everdeen asking her permission to take Prim out for a day. Before the blonde girl left for today, she slung her skinny arms around my waist and gave me a firm hug, which I returned. She was smiling a lot when she started her way home, and I was thinking again on the importance of social issues versus technical issues. Would my grandfather approve my using some time on making girls happy? Was this something I was really supposed to do? Wouldn't I put other kids, who did not know me, at a disadvantage? I did not have answers ready for my concerns, but after all I was only 21 years old.

A few days later Prim returned the invitation I had sent to Mr. and Mrs. Madison, Rue's parents, and they had written their agreement to come for lunch coming Sunday around noon time, together with their daughter. I had neglected to mention some means of transportation, but the distance was not too great, and I'd offer to drive them back at least. Naturally, Prim would also be there, as kind of mediator. I was looking forward to that day, but managed to get at least some of the technical work in between. The first wind generator had arrived, and I needed to supervise the assembly and setup process, which was supposed to be done mostly next week. This one was a conventional one with three big blades, and others would follow with different construction modes. In parallel, seeding had started on a few selected fields, and Mr. Brown proudly showed me how this was working out. He was somewhat concerned about birds picking up too many of the seedlings, and this would have to be observed.

Nonetheless, finally Sunday was there, and of course I had asked Mrs. Miller to prepare a nice lunch for all of us. As custom between us, the Miller family would sit together with us for lunch around the big table in the dining room, and I was really looking forward to seeing Rue's parents. Later in the morning some dark clouds started to show on the previously blue sky, and I was getting concerned about my visitors maybe getting soaked while walking (I assumed that they also, like most Seam people, would not own a car), but they had actually taken the bus, and rain started only later on. Opening the door for them, I greeted them warmly and asked them to come in. I could not avoid noticing that Mr. Madison was limping – not too badly, but visibly. After we had introduced ourselves, we sat down for lunch, and conversation subsided for some time. While eating desert, though, there were some question coming up. Naturally, Rue's parents wanted to learn what I was doing, and I tried to explain in as much detail as I could.

Rue's father commented: "I like that. It's about time that somebody actually cares about the living conditions in the poor districts, and it is a shame that the Panem government does not bother at all. You do have my support."

I replied: "Actually, at a later time I may need to get some expertise on orchards, which I might want to add to some of my grounds. This is something you guy in district 11 specialize in, don't you?"

He nodded: "Yes, indeed. However, district 11 spends almost more effort on making sure that nobody gets more food than required and assigned than on actually improving the yield and such. Our orchards could be more efficient and provide higher yield if somebody cared about proper fertilization and selection of species, like my ancestors used to do."

I commented: "Indeed. Right now, I am quite busy with everything going on already. If I decided to actually start investigating orchards later on, could I come back to you, of course for proper payment?"

Mr Madison beamed: "My wife and I would be happy to assist with that at any time. I would be so satisfactory to see somebody doing something useful, and I probably still have some of my great-grandfather notes and books at home." Looking down at himself, he added: "I am not sure if I would be of too much help, though. Since an accident a few years ago my left leg is damaged and my walking abilities are limited. The orchard overseers used this an excuse for reducing my pay, too."

After Prim and Rue had left the table and were lead to another room by Monica, my housekeepers' 13 year old daughter, to play some girl games, I suggested to step outside for a few minutes and walk up to the top of the hill which provided a nice overview around my property. Fortunately the rain had stopped for now, and I was able to demonstrate and further explain some of my plans by outlining the areas I had reserved for individual projects.

Once we had spent some time looking around, Mrs. Madison decided to get back to the original reason of the invitation: "So, Mr. Sinterguth, if I get it right, you suggest to pick up our daughter and take her for a visit to the zoo on her birthday, also together with Prim?"

I nodded and confirmed: "Yes, Mrs. Madison, this is correct. I would very much like to do this."

Rue's mother was not really convinced: "Please forgive me for asking, but most people I know do something only if they get something back. What are you getting back for that? Seeing an adult male person planing a day with two young girls sounds a little suspicious to me."

I understood this, of course, and I basically repeated what I had told Prime before, that I missed my youth group girls. To underline my statement I showed a certificate written by my pastor at home, confirming that I had been a youth group leader for about three years and mentioning my performance and behavior. Planing ahead before lunch, I had put that sheet of paper in my pocket to have it ready when needed.

"Of course", I added, "I cannot be available for every young person around being poor and not being able to celebrate a birthday as they should, but at least for those I know and I like, I'd feel really bad if I did not at least try to do something about it. Prim is by now a very good friend of mine, and I would not mind at all to extend this friendship to your daughter a little bit."

Going on, I also mentioned, this time to Mr. Miller (his wife had stayed inside to clean the table): "Thinking about that, my dear Mr. Miller, I have kept you and your wife quite busy over the last few weeks, with lots of irregular work hours and overtime, and I am afraid that you had less time to spend with your daughter than you liked. Would you mind if I also invited her for the trip to the zoo?"

Mr. Miller beamed: "Monica has mentioned a few times she'd love to go there, but as you say, somehow we could not find the time. I am sure that she would be delighted, and we would not mind at all!"

I summarized: "So, I guess that we are all in agreement. Next Wednesday I will pick up all three girls from school and we will visit the zoo until we are getting tired, and we are hopefully going to have a lot of fun."

Everybody nodded, and we went back into the house again to let the girls know about our joint decision.

Mr Miller drove the Madison family home in the van later in the afternoon, and once I had retired to bed, I thought that this had been a good day, and I was really looking forward to the planned day at the zoo.

[Author's Note: The story about being a youth group leader at a church community before with almost only girls in the group is something which is taken from my own personal background and has actually happened. I thought this might provide some explanation in the story for Timotheus being so happy with Prim and Rue around; he is not just pretending]


	6. Chapter 6 - Visiting the zoo

**Chapter 6: Visiting the zoo**

On Monday morning I had to get up early. The assembly of the first big wind turbine was to be started today, with the set of blades lifted to the hub with the help of a huge mobile crane. Fortunately, there was almost no wind blowing today, and the mobile crane, which had arrived during the night, could start working. Strictly speaking, my presence was not really required, and Haymitch had everything under control. However, watching the whole process was too tempting, and I wanted to capture the process with my camera at least. Naturally, attaching the blades to a huge wind generator was a time consuming process, and it was still in progress when the school bus arrived in the early afternoon. As the area was well visible from the road to the Seam, all of the school children stopped on their way and gawked, which somehow amused me. Of course, the site was separated from the road with a fence; we could not risk having somebody walking around while the crane was operating. I walked over to the fence and explained to those who wanted to listen what was going on. Specifically the Hawthorne boys, Rory and Vick, were very interested and standing in the first row.

The operation continued over the next few days, and I watched again on Tuesday. It was amazing to watch the specialists moving around high above us, attached to the high platform with climbing ropes and doing their best to quickly screw the blades onto the hub, and I have to admit that I skipped some of my other tasks just to observe. But hey, that was the advantage of being the boss – nobody would scold or blame me for that.

On Wednesday, of course, I had different plans, and I was looking forward to the day quite a lot. There was no need to pack something to eat or to drink, as there was plenty of that offered at the zoo. Prices were a little steep there, but this was not really an issue for me. I took a small backpack with a water bottle anyway, because I expected to buy a few gifts for the kids. Right on time I drove my Jeep to school and parked, waiting for the three girls to come out. Fortunately all three of them had a compatible schedule today, so that they should all be done at about the same time.

The school bell rang, and hundreds of children were streaming out of the main school building. While it would have been challenging for me to identify the three girls in the huge crowd, I had suggested that they should head towards the car park and look for my bright red Jeep, which could be easily seen between all other cars; thus I relaxed and waited. Prim and Rue arrived first, with Prim happily starting like a chatterbox: "Timotheus, here we are! I am so glad that you actually came, and let me tell you about our history lesson today, and..." when I interrupted her: "Prim, hold on for a second – let me greet Rue as well, please." And I turned to Rue and addressed her: "My dear Rue, Happy Birthday to you. I sincerely hope that you may enjoy the afternoon, and please let me know if there is something specific we should do!" She looked a little shy, but thanked me. At this time, Monica was also coming up, and I shoved all of them into the car. While we were driving to the zoo, Prim and Monica were chatting almost constantly, and I had a feeling that this was a little bit too much for Rue, who was sitting in the center of the back row. So far she seemed to be more the quiet type and not as open and outgoing as at least Prim was. With at least some success I encouraged the girl to also look outside, as they probably rarely had a chance to see the streets we were taking, passing a few other districts and taking the highway towards the city section were the zoo was located.

Panem National Zoo was famous in the country, not only for its variety of animals, but also for the huge area it occupied. Even if one spent an entire day there, it was barely possible to see all animals and walk all of the internal roads and walkways. That, of course, was not my intention anyway. There was no way I could make the girls rush through all sections quickly, but we rather needed to focus on a few ones and take our time. When entering, everybody received a small printed map, and we first did some brainstorming while sitting on a bench to decide where to start. The zoo did have a narrow track miniature railway track going around, and the tour promised to pass many interesting animal enclosures; we all agreed to take that first. While we had to wait ten minutes or so – after all, it was a sunny day, and there were quite a few visitors around – the ride was fully worth the wait, and Prim was squeaking most of the time. At those times, she behaved more like an eight years old than a twelve year old, but that was all right to me. After all, I knew that she could be a very competent person to talk to when needed, and I fully accepted that older kids and sometimes even adults needed to behave like small kids every once in a while. Monica was also sometimes shouting when she noticed an interesting animal, but Rue was very quiet, and for a few minutes she even rested her head at my shoulder. I told the children that the zoo close to my home city also had a similar miniature railroad track, and when I was a kid I had always insisted to ride it first.

After the train ride we had a much better idea about where to go next, and we started off with the ape house close by. As most apes were used to warm climate, they had built the whole ape area indoors, but there were huge cages with trees, bushed and even small creeks. In the cages, thick branches had been carefully placed to enable climbing, and there was the occasional swing and other toy. Areas were carefully separated between chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orang-utans, and all four of us spent quite some time watching the apes, specifically the younger ones which would occasionally use a swing or just race each other around. The girls had lots of fun comparing some of the younger apes to themselves, and I had fun listening to something like "Rue, this cute little gorilla looks like you" and "Prim, if this orang-utan baby over there had blonde hair, it could be you". I was tempted to ask them if they could see an ape looking like me, but wisely decided against it.

Behind the ape house there was a separate area where kids could go in and pet animals, mostly goats, sheep, and rabbits. All three girls took the opportunity and did that, while I waited outside and took some pictures. When they were done, we found ourselves at the beginning of a very big enclosure, which was supposed to have animals from the steppe in Africa – zebras, gnus, and antelopes – in it. Actually, that enclosure was on the right of the road, whereas the left showed the animals usually hunting those on the other side, namely lions, leopards, and cheetahs. Big panels on both sides explained a lot of details on the living and feeding habits of the shown animals, and there were a number of elevated platforms with attached binoculars helping visitors to get a better view on the animals. It was left to everybody's imagination to visualize the lazy predators actually hunting their prey rather than being fed by the zookeepers, but a lot of kids around got really excited about that.

Prim asked me: "Why are there no tigers shown here, when there are lions?"

I explained: "The animals and predators exhibited here are all from Africa, whereas tigers live in some parts of Asia – this does not fit."

Walking along the road and watching both predators and potential prey took a lot of time with all the breaks and watching, and my three girls told me that they were getting a little hungry. While it was early for supper, there was an ice cream vendor coming up, and I allowed them to pick whatever they wanted, which turned out to keep them busy for more than ten minutes. Prim hugged me once again and assured me that she was having a great day. Monica said the same, but Rue was awfully quiet. While Prim and Monica finished their ice cream, I asked Rue is something was wrong. She told me: "It is kind of you to ask. And no, nothing is wrong, I do enjoy the day. I am just getting tired again."

After watching a few more animals, we approached one of the big playgrounds, and this one had a particularly big and high climbing frame, with slides attached in various shapes and lengths. There was a sign saying that parents should watch their kids, and only experienced climbers were supposed to even try getting to the very top. All three girls immediately got started with climbing, and even Rue's tiredness was suddenly gone. Monica was all right with the lower parts; she was not quite that agile and not a big climber, but she had fun nonetheless. Prim was more active and easily got to the middle area with a large kind of balcony, from where she happily waved down to me. Looking out for Rue, I found her to be right on the way to the top, and I was getting a little scared – I should have pointed out first that this was for very experienced climbers only. But Prim shouted down to me: "Tim, do not worry – Rue is an excellent climber; just wait and see!" Well, Prim knew Rue much longer than I did, and I trusted her; besides, there wasn't much I could do anyway, so that I took my camera out and waited. Only a few minutes later, Rue indeed showed up at the top and happily waved down; I had the camera ready and took pictures of her at the top and Prim further down.

Having spent some time here at the playground, we only had about two hours left before the zoo closed, and we agreed to spend most of that in the jungle section. This was a huge enclosed section with a transparent roof, having a jungle like climate all inside. There was a long walkway going around on different levels, and a raft water ride of like twenty minutes at the end, so that one could easily spend about one hour exploring the area. When we entered, though, Rue was again getting tired and started yawning.

I looked at her and asked her how she was doing, and she replied: "I don't know why, but I am getting tired again. I am not sure if I can make the round here."

I was unsure what to do, but suggested: "Okay, your call, Rue. I can give you two options: I can either carry you piggyback so that you do not have to walk, or I can sit with you on a bench and you can take a nap while Prim and Monica walk around – what do you think?"

Rue quickly decided: "Please let me nap for a few minutes!"

Addressing Monica and Prim I asked: "Do you think you can find your way around and do the tour in here plus the water ride on your own?"

Monica assured me: "We are not little kids anymore, and there are plenty of signposts – let us do that and do not worry!"

With those words they ran off to have some fun, and I picked a bench for Rue and myself to sit down. While I started to get comfortable, she looked at me and asked: "Can I please sit on your lap while napping?" I was quite surprised to hear that, but did not mind; after all, she was quite petite and not heavy at all, so that was going to be all right for the hour or so until Monica and Prim would be back. I retrieved an old and worn paperback novel from my backpack, placed the water bottle beside us and told her: "That's all right, if you really want to." Quickly she placed herself on my lap, leaned her body back into my chest, moved her head sideways to rest it against my left arm, and was asleep within a minute or two.

It had been a long time since I had last had a girl sitting on my lap, maybe one of my younger cousins at home during a birthday party or so. Usually those girls had been much younger, though, and I felt a little odd having a twelve year old doing that. On the other hand, Rue did not really look like a twelve year old girl; with her petite and skinny frame and her small face she looked more like being eight or nine years old, as I had already noticed at Prim´s birthday. She was probably also undernourished, which reminded me to provide some supper as the last station here at the zoo. Rue actually napped until Prim and Monica came back a little less than one hour later. They had had a great time and chatted for some time about the colorful birds, butterflies, and exotic plants they had seen and partially also touched. With Rue awake again, we proceeded to the nearby snack bar and found ourselves something to eat, before we left the zoo and drove home, with darkness soon descending upon us.

When I dropped Rue at her parents' house, she was asleep again, and I told her mother: "Rue had a great time, as far as I can tell. She climbed to the very top of the climbing frame at the playground, but she was getting tired a lot, She actually napped for an hour in the jungle section and most of the time when we drove home again. Did she maybe not have much sleep last night?"

Her Mother responded: "No, she has slept all right last night. But I have also observed lately that she is tiring more quickly than she should. I do not have an idea why that happens, and I hope that this phase will pass soon. In the last few weeks, she has started having an afternoon nap after school, what she last did when she was three years old. I do hope that she is not getting sick. But, thank you very much for giving her a good day!"

I smiled and replied: "You are welcome, and it was a pleasure for me to spend an afternoon with three wonderful girls!"

Taking my leave, I went back to the car and drove up to the Seam, dropping Prim at her house. I greeted Mrs. Everdeen, assured her that Prim also had a great day, and also received thanks for doing that. Before I left I mentioned Rue tiredness, and Mrs. Everdeen got a little bit concerned, with herself being a healer. She told me that there might indeed be some kind of illness, but of a type she would not be capable to identify most likely.

Finally, I took Monica home and was happy to end a nice and enjoyable day. Naturally, when I was in bed later on, I was thinking a lot about what had happened, and somehow I continued to think about Rue's tiredness.

[Author's Note: I loved to ride a miniature railroad like the one in the story in the zoological garden in Nürnberg, Germany; the jungle section of the zoo in my story has been inspired by the 'Gondwanaland' area in the zoological garden of Leipzig, Germany]


	7. Chapter 7 - Hospital talks

**Chapter 7: Hospital talks**

During the next few days work kept me quite busy, but I had not forgotten Rue and her tiredness. After pondering this for some time, I decided to write a detailed email message to a cousin of mine, who was a medical doctor in the big research hospital at Seeburg, our family residence. I described what I had observed with Rue, specifically the tiredness she had shown in the last few weeks, her quiet behavior, and herself looking so much younger than her real age, and I asked if he knew about any kind of illnesses potentially matching that. Of course I knew quite well that my cousin would not be able to conjure a full diagnosis based on that, but maybe he could provide some hints at least. This being done, I felt better and focused on work again.

For a few days I sat together with Haymitch and a young engineer from Seeburg, discussing means of energy storage. While we had plans to generate electrical energy with wind turbines and solar energy, those means would not always be available. For instance, solar energy would be not available during the night to provide light, and thus we needed to think about energy storage. This was of course not only a local problem, but a general one for electricity. When generating power with coal plans or nuclear power plants, storage was not an issue as those plants could and should run 24/7, but they had problems attached, like CO2 exhaust with coal power and nuclear waste with nuclear fission power. Fusion power would be able to overcome those issues, but was not going to be feasible in the next few decades.

The engineer from headquarters explained the various means of storing electrical energy. Some of those could be done with little effort, but were expensive, such as batteries (like those used in electrical cars). Others were cheaper, but very inefficient, like generating hydrogen from electricity. Others again were more efficient, but required extensive preparations and landscaping, specifically pumped storage hydro power. This one, though, had the big advantage of being very efficient – almost 90% of the energy required to pump water up could be regained when having the same water drive generators when flowing down. Naturally, I was all in favor of it, but realized that we needed to find proper locations first. For a short term solution it might be practical to collect used batteries from cars and such and assemble a battery based storage unit first. This could be done on a smaller scale, with limited effort, and we decided to go ahead with this one first.

In addition, we wanted to find out how solar cells could be arranged without reducing area for agriculture too much. I had read an article in a technical magazine about farmers constructing rows of solar cells about 5m above their fields, but with larger gaps between the rows, so that only about 10% or less of the total area would be shaded at any time. I would have to discuss options with my farmers, and probably we would want to experiment with various row distances as well as different produce to be planted. Well, I was looking forward to those experiments – this was almost a little like playing for adults, and I enjoyed this time of work in particular.

A few days later my cousin, the medical doctor, had replied to my message. He wrote that he could of course not really diagnose Rue from afar, but he strongly suggested to have a full diagnosis and very thorough examination done. Knowing where I lived he recommended Panem University Hospital. The children's unit was headed by a Dr. Aurelius, who happened to be an expert in both pediatrics and psychology. My cousin had attended university together with him and thus knew him quite well. Finally my cousin pointed out that such thorough examinations were, without being some kind of emergency, not always covered by health insurance plans. I quickly replied and thanked him for the advice.

Well, the issue about the examination potentially not covered by insurance was going to be a problem. Most likely the citizens of the poor districts would only be able to afford the cheapest health insurance plans, so that the likelihood of a full series of tests being covered without a serious illness being apparent would be slim. Of course, I had more than enough money available to pay for it, but I also knew that the locals in district 11 and 12 were mostly too proud to accept charity. Somehow I'd need to find a way to get around that problem.

Two days later I happened to be in Panem Capitol area to visit some shops and order some merchandise for farm and lab, when I decided to find out if Dr. Aurelius was available for some conversation. I told the receptionist that I was a cousin of his friend from university, and he was able and willing to spend ten minutes with me.

I did my best to summarize the problem: "A friend of mine, a twelve year old girl, has started to sleep and nap a lot in the last few weeks, and she has been getting very quiet. She is still able to follow lessons at school, but seems to find less energy for almost everything else, and she is also not eating well, or maybe not nourished sufficiently because her family is very poor. In addition, although she is now twelve years old, she looks more like an eight or nine year old. My cousin recommended to have a very thorough examination done here, but also mentioned that most health insurance plans would not cover that. While I would be willing to jump in, her parents would probably not be willing to accept this kind of charity."

Dr. Aurelius replied: "This girl looking much younger than she is could well be an issue of undernourishment. I have had quite a few children here from the poorer districts who were too skinny, but their parents simply cannot afford better meals. The sleepiness gets me concerned, too, and I agree that a full series of tests would be best."

After a short break he continued: "I am aware of the issue of lacking financial coverage. Years ago we have started a special fund here enabling us to at least perform basic checks on the children brought to us, although many poor parents do not even bother to come here. We could get started with means from that fund, but this is limited. As a matter of fact", he said while looking at me directly, "we have been looking for fund donors, and as you seem to be both interested in the issue and also have significant financial means available..."

He did not have to complete his sentence – I had understood: "So, if some treatment was covered by your hospital's fund rather than an individual person, poor parents are less likely to see that a charity, right?"

Dr. Aurelius nodded: "Yes, indeed. In addition to that we always point out that we are a University Hospital, and we are interested to learn from patients. As a matter of fact, the local pediatrics unit is quite large and is combined with a significant pediatrics research facility. Being able to collect health data from children from different background is helpful for us, but of course we still rely on external donations."

I thanked him for the conversation and promised to get more details about the fund from his receptionist. She handed me a thick brochure showing all of the details, and I intended to study that in details soon. First, though, I stopped at the Madison residence on my way home. I was lucky to find Mrs. Madison at home, as she had to stop working early due to adverse weather conditions. I told her about the importance of a full medical examination of her daughter at the hospital, and of course I also mentioned that at least the initial checks would be covered by the general fund.

She hesitated: "Do you really think that we should bring her to the hospital? I do not know anybody there, and so far we have been consulting our local healer."

I asked: "Yes, but has the local healer been able to find out anything yet?"

She shook her head: "No, not really. She provided some hints for better nourishment, but most of that is outside of our means. She does not have an idea where the sleepiness might come from."

I continued: "I can promise that Rue will be taken care of at the hospital. They have a large pediatrics unit, and Dr. Aurelius really cares."

Mrs. Madison promised to talk to her husband and think about it, and I drove myself home. Rain was still pouring down, and dark clouds also affected my mood today.  
-

On the next day I joined Prim in the afternoon when she started to spend some time in the new herb garden. My farm workers had completed the initial preparations some time ago, and the plot was now ready to be prepared for seeding and planting. Turning towards the blonde girl, I suggested: "Prim, on this side here there is some shade from the trees. Would you be able to select herbs according to the level of sunshine and soil moisture they need?"

She responded: "Yes, I think I can do this, and I'll also get some advice from my mom on that."

I continued: "On the other side, I would like to grow a few berries which can be eaten directly from the bushes, like blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Do you think that makes sense?"

Prim smiled: "This is a great idea, specifically if you offer to hand out some of the harvest to the children in the Seam!"

I nodded and confirmed: "Yes, this is exactly what I have in mind. I will have Mr. Brown get started with the proper bushes and shrubs."

Looking around I added: "I will sent one of my hands around later on to collect a list of material you may need, like various gardening tools – please do not hesitate to tell them what you need! Also, before I forget to ask, have you found somebody else to share the work with?"

Prim responded that Leevy, a 15 year old girl living right next to the Everdeens, had volunteered, and that they were looking forward to working together. Leevy did not yet have that much knowledge on plants, but she was interested and willing to learn. Hearing that, I nodded and I took my leave. While walking home, I again pondered the hospital situation and Rue – Mrs. Madison had not yet told me how to proceed, and she was probably not sure if she could trust the hospital employees with her daughter. However, I had made up my ind to provide a significant donation to the hospital funds, and there was going to be both an initial larger donation and a smaller monthly donation. Grandfather always insisted to spend money on charity and social work, and I had a special fund for that. One of grandfather´s favorite statement was like that: "God gave us the gifts and talent to gain a lot of money. This is not supposed to be spent on personal enrichment, but mostly for the benefit of others, so that we must balance between wise long term investments and socially important activities."

Next week there was another 'Prim visit day', and I had promised her to show her around on the site for a few hours after school. Right after she had arrived, we started walking towards the wind generator area. She must have noticed that I was unusually silent, as she mentioned after a few minutes: "Timotheus, something is bothering you. Is it a girl?"

Hearing that I smiled briefly, but did not deny. She picked up on that: "So it is. Let me guess – it is Rue?"

This time I almost blushed and turned away from her. She jumped around me to look into my face and continued: "Don't bother to deny it. Of course I noticed that you care about her, and that you worry about her sleepiness. I do, too, but she has been my friend for years. It is so sweet of you to care so much!" and she hugged me.

When I could breathe again I responded: "Prim, it is almost a little scary to be the object of your deductions, but you are right. Maybe you should consider being a detective or private investigator as your future career path?"

She laughed and told me: "No, not really. I definitely want to become a medical doctor, although that's probably not going to happen."

I turned towards her and noticed that her face had turned sad again at the end of her statement; I couldn't resist to let her know about an option: "Prim, don't get your hopes up too early, but there may be a solution for that. My family runs a university hospital in my home city, and each year we award a few grants for gifted students. That is, we invite interested candidates for a week and run them through extensive tests, written ones, verbal ones, and practical ones. Those we feel are really gifted are given a grant for free education as an MD plus free boarding and a small allowance. But, and please keep that in mind, the tests are very tough, and while sometimes hundreds of candidates apply, only a handful or less are accepted."

Prim´s face started to lighten up when she heard that, and she asked: "Timotheus, is that really true?"

I confirmed: "Yes, it is, and if you are still as dedicated when finishing school as you are now, I can get you into the testing group easily. However, actually passing the tests is something you would have to do on your own!"

Prim hugged me again and said: "Yes, I understand, but this is at least an option I may have, and I am very happy to learn about it!"

We had arrived at the wind generator site (I was thinking about giving the areas specific names, like 'Site A' or so, but had not decided yet), we spent half an hour looking up and actually took the internal elevator to the power house with the power generators and the gear box. While being here, I also briefly outlined the issue of energy storage, and Prim was quite interested. As a matter of fact, Prim seemed to be very intelligent and smart way beyond her age.

When we were down again and walking towards the farm, Prim started talking again: "I really should not talk about it, but you can keep a secret, right?"

I nodded and confirmed: "Yes, Prim, I can. But feel free to only tell me what you really want to."

She replied: "Yes, of course, but for some topics there are few people I can really talk to. I mean, my mother is mostly occupied with her healing business, and most of my school mates absolutely cannot keep a secret. There is my sister Katniss, but it is actually about her."

I warned her: "Prim, I may not want to hear about girl stuff and any private details about your sister!"

Prim understood but continued: "Yes, but this is something I so need to share with somebody. Did you know that Peeta Mellark, the youngest baker's son, has had a crush on Katniss for many years?"

I shook my head: "No, I did not know; however, thinking about it, that would explain why he had baked katniss cookies in addition to primrose cookies for your birthday."

Prim replied: "Yes, indeed, and Katniss almost sent them back, but I talked her into eating them. When she did, she definitely like the taste. Before, Katniss never really recognized Peeta, but a few days ago Peeta came to our home with some burns on his arms – this is what sometimes happens when you are a baker. Mom treated the burns and suggested Peeta stay for a few hours to have the treatment repeated a few times. Katniss was home, too, and when Mom went outside to get a few herbs, I noticed Katniss holding Peeta´s hand!"

I still did not know if I needed to know about that, but I started to smile: "So, is this good?"

Prim turned towards me and claimed: "Of course it is! Peeta is the perfect match for Katniss, but my sister has so far refused to notice that – she can be so stubborn!"

I smiled even more and commented: "So, you claim to know better than your sister?"

Prim nodded: "Of course I do. Katniss is so … unaware of social interactions, that she urgently needs help. Fortunately, she has me!"

[Author's Note: The issue of energy storage as discussed at the beginning of the chapter is something I am personally interested in, and I believe that it is an important topic to address in our world when moving more and more to green energy]


	8. Chapter 8 - Hospital examinations

**Chapter 8: Hospital examinations**

When Prim visited next time, she told me right away that Mr. and Mrs. Madison had finally decided to have Rue examined at the University Hospital. That already had had a talk with Dr. Aurelius, and he had told them that the initial examinations would take a fully day; they had set an appointment for that one week later, and Rue would have to skip one day of school. Prim´s face changed between happiness and sadness, and when I inquired about that, I was told: "I am happy about Rue finally getting a proper check up. But I am also sad because I am afraid that she may actually be sick. I am not sure how to feel about that!"

I looked her into the yes and let her know: "Sometimes we just need to see how God's plans unfold, and at this time there is nothing we can do. But whatever happens, if she needs us later on, we'll be there for her, won't we?" Prim agreed and looked more or less happy again.

Today we went outside to check progress on the battery storage. The enclosure had been erected and a roof was there, and the first few battery blocks had arrived. Two workers were busy adding the blocks to the site, and there was a small electronics shack to control energy flow according to need. As first part of the energy project, I was going to have a small set of street lights set up in the Seam. Currently, there was absolutely no electrical lighting there at all, and residents who needed to walk around after dusk either needed to walk in the dark or use torches or lanterns. With the Mayor's permission, a few streetlights with low power LEDs had already been added to a few road crossings, and the electrical wiring was to follow soon. The main circuit was to be connected to my site's power distribution unit, and while the main source of power would be the big wind generator, the battery unit was going to buffer some power, like when there was no wind.

Prim came to my home again on the day of Rue´s examination at Panem University Hospital. Naturally, she was concerned and worried about her best friend, and I tried to comfort her. I also mentioned that Rue might not be willing to tell her any details about the results, as those might be confidential, and only her parents were supposed to learn about them. Of course, I also would not learn anything unless Rue's parents decided to share with me. We played a few games and Prim got started with her homework for the day. She almost got stuck with a few difficult calculations in mathematics, but I provided some hints to help her proceed. Prim finally left for home when dusk was already close.

For a few days no news on Rue´s situation arrived, but during the following week Prim came again and told me that Rue was taken out of school for the entire next week, presumably for more detailed examinations at the hospital. Prim was worried because she would want to visit her friend, but the hospital was out of range for her. In theory she could have taken the bus, but the trip would have taken more than one hour and her family could ill afford the ticket. In addition, her mother and older sister probably would not have allowed her to make that kind of trip on her own. I suggested: "Prim, maybe we could visit Rue together, and I could take you in the car. However, we'd need to check with Rue's parents first if they allow us visiting." Prim beamed and said that she liked my idea. Thus we sat down together and wrote a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Madison (since their last visit I had their address available) politely asking about Rue´s well being, suggesting that Prim and I would like to visit her at the hospital if that was agreeable. In addition I asked if I could be of any service assisting them to visit their daughter at the hospital at any time; I knew that they did not own a car. We also asked about best suited visiting hours, signed the letter and carried it to the next mailbox together.

Only three days letter the reply letter arrived. Mrs. Madison wrote that Rue indeed needed to spend next week at the hospital. While pick up and bringing home was to be organized by the hospital, visiting was going to be a problem for them. Her husband would not be able to get time off work for a visit, but she would have Wednesday afternoon free, and she would appreciate a lot if I could take her and visit her daughter together with her and Prim. Right away I wrote back and agreed to pick her up next Wednesday early afternoon right after I had picked up Prim from school. Naturally I also informed Mrs. Everdeen about our plans, and she was happy about that, as she also cared for Rue.

On the next day I decided to check how the herb garden in the Seam looked like by now. As it was morning, Prim and Leevy were of course at school, and I had Camilla Brown with me. She was my farmer´s daughter and back at home for a week or two before she was going to get back to university, and I wanted to get her advice on what we could further improve. When she saw what Prim and Leevy had already started, she was quite impressed. After half an hour of thorough examination Mrs. Everdeen stopped by to check on the growth of some herbs, and I introduced the two ladies. Soon they got into some passionate technical discussion on botanical topics and I was at least partially lost.

When we left again, Camilla told me: "I was quite impressed about Mrs. Everdeen's knowledge on plants and herbs. Specifically considering her detailed background about herb effects on health, I almost believe that some professors at university could learn from her. I certainly did not expect to meet such a knowledgeable person here in the Seam, and I have arranged further meetings with her – this is really astonishing, and I have already taken some notes. Maybe I will take 'medical effects of plants' as a minor in my further studies."

I replied: "Camilla, I am glad that you are willing to listen and to learn. Knowledge and experience can be found at different places, and it is always good to be open minded. I'd like to encourage you in this direction."

In the afternoon, I spent a few hours at the battery storage unit, which was almost ready for the first stage of operation. After some discussion with Haymitch, we decided to start initial operations only once all of the basic components were ready: Power generation (wind turbine plus a small set of solar cells), power storage (battery unit), wiring (currently at the site itself and to the Seam), and power usage units (at this time some LED lights on the site and a few more at several road crossing in the Seam). We estimated that we'd be ready in a week at the latest, and I went to the Mayor´s office next day to inform him about progress. He asked if this date was fix and reliable, and I confirmed. He smiled and decided that this was worth a small celebration. As we were already in early summer, he wanted to prepare a speech and initiate the official start of the Seam road lighting with a 'meet the people and celebrate' event.

After a few more days of work, which kept me quite busy, the Wednesday being scheduled for the Rue visit had arrived. Right after lunch I drove my Jeep to school and waited for Prim. Soon after the school bell rang, she came running out of the main building and excitedly jumped in my direction. When I stepped out of my car to greet her, I got a firm hug and a kiss on my cheek, and she smiled at me, saying that she was ready.

After I had started the engine again and we were driving to the Madison residence in district 11, I asked her: "Prim, I need to ask you something. You just greeted me with a hug outside of school, fully visible for hundreds of pupils. As much as I like your hugs, I would have expected that showing bodily affection to an adult might be somewhat embarrassing...".

Prim smiled at me and responded: "Well, if you were my father and twice your age, that might be true. But you are still almost a teenager, you are good looking, and you have a cool car. Giving you a hug is not embarrassing at all – instead, my friends are going to be so envious of me!" She giggled: "Actually, some of them will ask me if you are my boyfriend, and I will particularly enjoy neither denying nor confirming that!"

I had to be careful not to drive the car off the road, because I was close to breaking into laughter; ROTF is not exactly something one should do while driving a car.

Arriving at the house the Madisons were living in, Mrs. Madison was already waiting for us. Prim obediently moved to the back seat and Mrs. Madison got into the car. I could see that she was nervous and worried, which was of course totally understandable. Above and beyond being concerned abut the health of her only child, she would also be sad about lacking time and means to visit her more often, and if some serious illness was found, there would be no money to pay expensive medicine or special treatment. Thus, we drove on towards the hospital without talking much, although Prim tried a few times to get some kind of conversation going.

Fortunately, parking was available close to the children's unit of the hospital, and the three of us went in towards the reception desk. Rue´s mother had to fill out a visitor sheet for us, as non-relatives required explicit parental permission to visit. The receptionist told us where we'd have to go, and we easily found the right room, which Rue was sharing with another girl. We knocked and entered, and when Rue saw us, she quickly got up and hugged both her mother and Prim, and she shook my hand. Rue introduced her room mate: "This is Wiress, she is three years older than me. You would not believe how much she knows about electronics and computers – she could probably work as well as teacher on those topics at our school!" We also said hello to Wiress and exchanged a few words.

After some conversation and asking Rue how she was keeping up I assumed that Rue would want to have some time alone with the mother, and thus I suggested: "Mrs. Madison, I assume that you may want to have some time alone with your daughter – would you mind if Prim and I went shopping and came back in two hours or so?" Mrs. Madison nodded, and I dragged the blonde girl out of the room. There was a shopping mall close to the hospital, and first I sat down with Prim and we had some ice cream, and I explained: "Prim, Rue and her mother will need some time for a mother-girl talk. Rue may want to talk about the examinations she has already had, and at least at this time, this is none of our business. Maybe they will share some of that with us later on, but maybe not. Before we head back, is there something specific you'd like to do or buy here?" Well knowing that the Everdeens did not have a lot of money at all I did not expect her to actually buy something, but she already had a little allowance (which I had paid out) from working in the Seam herb garden, and she insisted to get a few small household utensils; Prim told me that the Hawthornes badly needed them. We also walked around and looked into a lot of shop-windows, and Prim was very impressed to see what how much different merchandise the shops offered here, compared to her home district.

Finally the wait time was over and we headed back to the hospital. Back in Rue's room Mrs. Madison told us that the doctors wanted to keep Rue for a second week of examinations, and they had not told her yet what they had found out so far. I asked Rue if she would like me also to come again, and when she shyly nodded, I suggested to come for another visit next Wednesday at the same time – Mrs. Madison gladly accepted this offer and mentioned, that maybe her husband would be able to join in as well. With those plans we took our leave from Rue and drove back home.

For the next few days I was busy checking and overseeing the final preparations for the initial Seam street ligthing opening ceremony Mayor Undersee insisted on doing on Saturday evening. All of the Seam residents were invited, and I really wanted to make sure that everything worked as planned. The first wind turbine had been operating for a few days and feeding electricity into the battery storage unit. During broad daylight we ran a couple of tests to verify that the wiring was good and the individual LED lights were fully functional. Based on the lights´ power consumption and the capacity we currently had the illumination could be sustained for at least twelve hours, which was more than good enough for the entire night at this time of the year. For the event, we had set up a small stage with a few additional lights illuminating the stage, so that the Major would be properly visible for everybody. This being done and double checked, we could only hope for good weather.

I also got a chance to talk to Madge Undersee, the Mayor´s daughter, on Saturday. I told her: "Your father suggested that you might be suitable to assist with the communication between my company and the district, so that my plans here are properly aligned with the Mayor´s office. Would you be agreeable to that, and if yes, which times could you work on that?"

Madge responded: "Oh yes, my father and I talked about that, and I´d be very happy to do this. Of course, I am still at school, but I could work for a few hours during the week and on Saturdays, if this is all right for you."

I smiled and confirmed: "This is perfect. Would you have a few minutes so that we can walk over to my admin building and I can introduce you to my staff?"

She agreed and we started our walk to my site. Haymitch was sitting outside and talking to a couple of workers, so that we waited until he was done. He turned towards us and addressed Madge: "So, the Mayor´s daughter. Have you finally decided to do something useful?"

I was a little bit shocked, but then I recalled that Haymitch and Madge would of course know each other. Indeed, Madge started laughing and responded: "Yes, I like you too, Haymitch. Let's go inside and get me started!" Inside, we introduced Madge to the office help and gave her some additional information. She got started on browsing through the files right away, and I could continue my way towards a final check at the battery storage unit.

Saturday evening had finally arrived, and the time for the Mayor's ceremony was close. Haymitch and I walked over to the small stage which had been erected, where Mayor Undersee was already waiting. A box with a button had been installed to start the illumination when he was ready, but of course he wanted to wait until it was mostly dark. Seam residents started to arrive, and at least some drinks and snacks were provided for everybody. A beautiful sunset ended the day and provided a red colored sky for some time, before darkness slowly descended upon us. Before the last traces of light were completely gone, the Major held a very short speech and finally pressed the button. Fortunately, the system worked as expected, and the dim light from the street lamps and on the stage went on, so that the guests clapped their hands. Mayor Undersee waved me to the stage and promised that more lights would be installed later on; he also hinted at the option to get electricity to all houses at a later time. Finally he invited the residents to help themselves to the food and drinks, and the ceremony was over.

After all the activity of the last days, I was glad that I could relax on Sunday, but on Monday another issue waited for me. Mr. and Mrs. Brown, my farmers, had asked to talk to me, and thus I walked over to the farm house on Monday morning. Mr. Brown explained: "Since a few weeks ago we have noticed that some seeds have not developed and grown as expected, and at first we did not know why. A few day ago I placed some night vision cameras around some fields, and I have seen quite a few rabbits helping themselves during dawn and dusk times. In addition, there are signs of boar coming over and devastating some areas. I believe that our nearby forest, lacking hunters, is the perfect environment for those animals to multiply, and they are now coming out looking for more food."

I nodded: "I see. I had planned to look out for hunters eventually, but I will to do this more urgently now. There is a person I have already in mind, and I need to talk to her soon. Thank you for pointing out the situation, Mr. Brown."

Of course, the person I had in mind was Katniss Everdeen. If possible, I wanted to avoid having hunters with guns in my forest, and her prowess with bow and arrow would be perfect. I needed to prepare a job offer for her she would not want to resist, and when I was back in my house I started to draft one right away. Knowing that she would hesitate to accept a job, I wrote it in a way that she would do me a favor by hunting in my forest, which was actually true. It was mentioned that some of the hunted game was supposed to be used for being given to the hob for a kind of small soup kitchen for the poor; Haymitch had cleared that with the Mayor. In addition I pointed out that I would eventually need more hunters, and that she could maybe train others to hunt with bow and arrow. I concluded with asking her to stop by if she was interested to learn about more details, and sent the letter off. Naturally, I would have to talk to Prim and ask her to make sure that Katniss actually read the letter.

Before I knew it, the day of the next hospital visit was there, and I was driving to Prim´s school again. Recalling her words from last time, I decided to follow the concept, and when she came out of the school and approached my car, I lifted her up in my arms, turned her around a few times, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. This time she actually blushed a little bit, and I started laughing.

She was curious: "What was that for?"

Still laughing, I told her jokingly: "Just having fun pretending to be your boyfriend!" and she also joined into the laughter. I added: "To be honest, the longer I know you, the more I feel like you´re my little sister."

Prim liked that and returned: "And I like to think of you like my big brother."

This time, both of Rue´s parents could come, and I drove all of us towards the city. Conversation was more subdued, and I heard that the doctors planned to tell the Madisons today what their initial diagnosis was.

Rue and her room mate Wiress were both happy to see us. We learned that Wiress was an orphan, and once she was released from the hospital, she would have to go back into an orphanage, which she hated. She had not relatives left and did not get any visitors, and she was sad about that. Thus, while the Madisons and Prim were talking to their daughter, I took a seat next to Wiress' bed and talked to her. She told me that she was very interested in electronics and computers and was one of the best at school in those areas, and her insight actually impressed me. She also mentioned that Rue was now her best friend, and that she was going to be very unhappy once Rue would be dismissed.

"You see", she explained, "the other kids at the orphanage consider me weird because of my gift for electronics. The orphanage is in the Capitol area, and while electronics and computer work is normal in district 3 where I come from, the Capitol kids are much more interested in fashion and modeling and shopping, so that I stick out. Rue is different – she does not know much about electronics, but she likes me because of me – I have really grown attached to her."

I sighed and responded: "Yes, I understand. In district 12 the Seam residents are looked down upon because of how they look like and where they live and because of them being poor, at Rue's and Prim's school Rue is mobbed because of darker skin color, and at your orphanage your are disliked because your hobbies and gifts ate different form the majority. It is sad to see humans beings react like that." I continued: "Tell you what, as Rue and you like each other so much, maybe there is a possibility that a visit can be arranged in future – would you like that?"

Wiress beamed: "Oh yes, that would be really great!"

Mr. and Mrs. Madison had an appointment with Dr. Aurelius, head of the pediatrics unit. Before they left, Rue asked if she could spend an hour or so in the hospital garden. I offered to take care of that, and the Madisons agreed. Thus, when her parents were gone, we made sure that Rue was properly dressed, and Prim and I guided her down to the garden area, where we sat down on a bench, surrounded by some smaller trees.

Rue took a deep breath and said: "This is so nice, sitting between trees again – I really miss this."

Prim also joined into the conversation: "And the trees here are more beautiful than those in the Seam!"

I commented: "Yes, indeed. There are even more beautiful and exotic trees in the city's botanical garden. Maybe at some time in the future we can go there together."

Rue asked: "Botanical garden?"

I explained: "Yes, the Panem University maintains a wonderful botanical garden. I have been there just once, earlier in the year, when the rhododendron plants are in flower, and I really enjoyed that day. But they also have lots of other plants including some huge greenhouses, so that going there will be great at any time of the year."

Both Rue and Prim seemed to be fantasizing about it, and I continued: "I would enjoy taking you two there at some later time, and maybe we should also invite Wiress. When I talked to her, she told me that does not have any visitors."

Rue really liked that: "Oh yes, Wiress is now a good friend of mine, and it is so sad that she does not have any other friends. If we could do something together with her, it would be good for her for sure. During the last days here at the hospital, I almost feel like she's my older sister, and I so like her."

We continued with small talk until Rue´s parents came out; they had completed their session with Dr. Aurelius, and they told us that Rue would be allowed to get home next Saturday. As I had expected, they did not say anything about their daughter´s state of health, and I did not ask. Finally we had to take our leave, and a nurse took over to bring Rue back to her room. While we walked away and turned around to look back one last time and wave our hands, I noticed Rue still sitting on the bench, some isolated sun rays touching her skin, and her hair softly blowing in the wind, and this image touched something in my heart. I did not really understand why, but I kept this image in my mind all the time we drove back, and even later on when I was in my bed.

[Author's Note: Further progress will be somewhat slower, as I need time to figure out how to get the story to the point I want to get it - please be patient]


	9. Chapter 9 - My new huntress

**Chapter 9: My new huntress**

A few days later Haymitch needed to discuss something with me and we met in the admin building. "We have a problem, boy", he started. "It appears that the coal business has a little bit of a downturn, and they are starting layoffs. At this time, only a few miners have been fired, but more could follow. They are not really calling it a layoff, but are looking for excuses, like miners not performing good enough. I have contacts there and know what's really happening. Some other miners are looking for jobs somewhere else, but there are two of them I would like to hire for our work here; they are both capable and smart enough, and we need to hire more people for our projects anyway – what do you think?"

I responded: "In general I agree, but isn't there a risk to antagonize the moguls by hiring people they laid off? Wouldn't this set an example and tempt others to work for us rather for them?"

Haymitch nods: "True, and I agree that we should not do this on a larger scale. Taking a few of them should be all right, though – leave that to me, I know how to handle the situation."

Meanwhile I trusted Haymitch and agreed, so that two ex-miners – Thom and Bristel – were going to work for us from next month on.

A couple of days later Prim surprised me with a visit in the afternoon, and she brought her sister Katniss with her. I could see that Katniss was not fully comfortable coming to my place, but that was to be expected – I had been warned by Prim. I greeted them: "Katniss, Prim, good to see you. Would you like to come in and have tea with me?"

Katniss hesitated and replied: "Well, um, I came to ask about that job offer. Can we just talk about that?"

I nodded: "Sure we can. In order to show you what I have in mind, maybe we should walk to the hill over there; from the lookout on top we can see the forest and I can best explain what I have in mind. Let me just get something organized – I will be back in a moment."

With those words I rushed inside and asked my housekeeper, Mrs. Miller, to have some tea and scones brought to the hill when she had time, and she promised to get started right away. This being done, I went outside again, and we strolled to the hill and climbed to the top, where a few benches and picnic tables were placed for day like today. The sun beamed down on us, birds frolicked close by, and some butterflies swirled around the flowers – a perfect day for enjoying to be outside. Katniss and Prim looked around, and while Prim just jumped and enjoyed, Katniss looked at me, giving me a hint to start.

"Well, here we are" I said. "Over there, the big forest all belongs to the site. It almost borders the Seam area on one side, stretches a little bit into the mountains towards the mines, and also is close to my fields. Boars have been sighted to venture out of the forest at night and do damage to the fields, and occasionally rabbits also show up. In the past years, nobody really cared about the forest, but I do have some plans. In parallel to investigating crops to plant in this climate, I want to find out to what extent the forest can help to nourish the population. There is game to hunt – as you probably know better than me – and there probably are some berries, like black berries; I would expect mushrooms, too. Your job, if you accept, is to both hunt and to find out what else can contribute to feed some people. At first, it will probably be only you, but later on I might hire more people. In addition, I also want to find which type of trees are best suited for the local climate here to maintain a healthy forest. Naturally, this is a paid job. In addition, you will be allowed to take part of what you hunted home, but I also expect a doe or deer from time to time."

Katniss looked at me, still trying to full understand.

I added one more comment: "I also know that you are still at school, but isn't this your last year, and won't you be out in a month or so?"

Katniss nodded and confirmed: "Yes, school is going to be over in four weeks, and this is indeed my last year."

Hearing that I smiled and said: "Perfect. If you want, you can start right now and explore the forest in your free time, and change to a full time employee when the school year is over. All right?"

Although I could see that she still had some doubts, the offer must have been just too good to ignore, and she nodded. I explained that I had a contract ready in the office building and we could get it later on. For now, Karl and Monica, the housekeeper children, came up to us with a few boxes and started to lay one of the picnic tables. Of course I invited them to join us as well, but Katniss clearly hesitated to take a seat, so that I made sure she understood: "Katniss, eating together with me is not a special privilege, but I invite people around me as frequently as possible – please have a seat!"

Of course, Prim did not need a second invitation, and soon we all enjoyed the tea and scones, almost sitting together like a large family. Later on, Katniss signed the contract, and I got her to talk to Haymitch for some more details.

A few busy weeks followed, with seeding, fertilizing, and harvesting being discussed with the farmers. In particular, we ran extensive checks on bugs and vermin as well as fungi on the fields, and tried to correlate this with the local environments. In general, I expected the fields with most bushes and hedges around – and thus more birds cutting back on bugs and such – to be impacted the least, but the situation seemed to be more complex. Maybe there was an issue with the species of birds, but I did not know yet; for a later time, I hoped that Camilla, the farmer's daughter, might help to investigate.

After some time, I had another visit from Prim, and I immediately noticed that something bothered her. This I greeted her: "Prim, nice to see you around. What's up?"

She smiled and told me:"Hi, Tim, good to see you again. Rue has been back at home for some time, but she isn't better than before. And I do have a question, or rather Rue's parents have. I have told my mum so much about Rue, and Mrs. Hawthorne and my mother invited them to dinner next weekend Saturday, but it is going to be late. They are asking if Rue and I can stay at your place for the evening and we could kind of 'babysit' Rue."

I raised my brows: "Rue's parents got that idea? They barely know me – this is quite unexpected."

Prim moved around on her chair and admitted: "Well, they talked it over with me and asked for a place where Rue could stay during the invitation, and I suggested your place. You see, you have such a nice house, and it would be so great to spend an evening here with Rue and you. They told me that they wouldn't dare to impose on you, but I insisted that you would not mind."

Hearing this I started to laugh: "Now I understand. Well, I guess this would be nice, and if the Madisons trust me with her daughter, I'd be honored to have her and you here for that evening. Actually, we can do even better than that. It will be quite late when they are done with dinner, and I really do not want them to walk back to their home in district 11 with Rue late at night. I am going to offer guest rooms for all of them including you, what do you think?"

Now Prim started to jump up and down excitedly: "This is a great idea; I love it!"

Smiling, I replied: "Yes, I thought so. I am going to write a letter to both the Madisons and your mother confirming this offer, and I will trust you to deliver the letters promptly."

Naturally, the poorer homes in district 11 and 12 did not have a telephone and internet connection, so that sometimes the school children had to deliver messages.

A couple of day later Prim managed to get the reply letters back to me. Both her mom and the Madisons agreed to the invitation, and I was looking forward to Saturday. Rue's family was supposed to arrive in the early afternoon, and I made sure that I had proper snacks and drinks at home. The Millers would be off during that day, minus Monica, who was also going to join us. However, they were planing to be back in the evening way before Rue's parents would be getting here; guest rooms were prepared, of course. I was actually looking forward to play some games with the girls or maybe watch a movie.

The Madison arrived right on time and greeted me when I opened the door: "Mr. Sinterguth, we really hope that we don't impose on you too much by having Rue here while we go to the Seam."

Promptly I replied: "Mrs. Madison, Mr. Madison, welcome to my home. And not at all – I will be having a great time with the girls today, and this will be a nice distraction from my usual work."

Gale Hawthorne was already waiting, as he was supposed to guide them up to the Everdeen residence, and they left soon enough, leaving Rue behind with Prim (who had come with Gale), Monica (who was delighted to meet Rue) and myself. I had asked the girls to bring their swimsuits, and as it was a nice and sunny summer day, I invited them to take advantage of the swimming pool I had behind my mansion. Comfortably stretching myself in a deck chair under a sunshade, with a few drinks and snacks beside me, I enjoyed watching the three girls having fun in and around the pool. None of them could really swim well, but the pool was not very deep and they had lots of fun playing all kinds of games. When I noticed the speed of playing to slow down, I estimated them to be hungry and hurried inside to bring out a big tablet with snacks and drinks for them, which I placed on a table.

After the girls had filled their stomachs, we played board games until dusk was close. We moved inside, and I suggested to watch a movie in my big living room. As it was getting late, I was not really surprised to see the girls yawning one after another, and just when the movie was over Prim and Monica retired to Monica's room, where a second bed was prepared for Prim. Rue had a small bed ready for her in her parents' guest room, but she was already half asleep on the sofa. Softly I talked to her: "Rue, can I get you to your room?"

However, she responded: "I don't want to be alone, can I please stay here with you?"

While I guessed that she really should get to bed, maybe she could stay here and sleep for a couple of hours until her parents were back, and they could take her to their room later, so that I replied: "Okay, if you want to, let's stay here until your parents are back. You do not have to be alone if you do not want to. Let me just go to the bathroom for a few minutes and I will be right back."

When I came back to the living room, I dimmed the lights and placed myself on one of the comfortable easy chairs, which could be moved back to an almost horizontal position, grabbed a blanket and told Rue: "Well, grab a blanket if you want, sit or lie down, and let me know if you want to talk about something."

Silence was my answer, and when I looked over to her, she already looked asleep. Soon I found myself also getting tired and sleep claimed me as well. After some time I woke up by some movement, though, and I noticed Rue getting up and moving closer to me, finally stretching her body right beside me. While I was not used to have another person close to me while sleeping at all, I did not mind, and while still half asleep, I extended my blanket so that it covered both of us. Within minutes I was back asleep.

I woke up again when sun rays tickled my skin, and to my surprise I noticed that I must have slept through the night on the easy chair with Rue right beside me. The door opened and Mrs. Miller glanced in, and when I raised my hand to indicate I was awake Rue's parents came in. Carefully and trying not to wake up Rue I raised myself from the easy chair and bade them good morning: "Good morning, Mrs. Madison, Mr. Madison. I hope you came back well and had a good sleep. I know that I should have brought Rue to your room, but she did not want to sleep alone, and it looks like I also fell asleep."

Mrs. Madison replied: "Good morning to you, too. Yes, we had a good night, we were just concerned by not seeing Rue in our room. Mrs. Miller helped us to search until we found her here with you, and as both of you were sleeping peacefully, we decided not to disturb you. I assume that she decided to stay close to you rather than on the sofa?"

I confirmed: "Yes, indeed. First she dozed off on the sofa, but when I was already half asleep she suddenly moved herself closer to me, but I slept quite well."

Mrs. Madison looked at me and asked: "You really slept well? How often did she wake you up?"

I looked surprised: "Not a single time as far as I remember. I think both herself and I slept very well without interruptions."

Rue now also started to wake up and looked at us. Her mother asked her: "Rue, I just heard that you slept well. Does that imply that you did not have that many nightmares last night?"

The little girl responded happily: "Actually, not a single one, mom – I slept better than I have done for weeks!"

Mr. Madison explained: "You see, Mr. Sinterguth, Rue has had nightmares on an almost regular basis since her sister and her grandparents died in a car accident three years ago. She was in the same car and survived with minor injuries, but had to observe the others dying before help arrived. About a year ago the situation had improved a little, but in the last few weeks it has been getting worse again. Because she usually does not sleep well, she is frequently tired during the day, and when she sleeps, she hates to be alone." He did not have to add that they were very surprised to hear that no nightmares plagued Rue last night.

As all of us were awake now (maybe except for Monica and Prim) we moved to the dining room, and I started to lay the table for breakfast. While the Madisons looked a little bit uncomfortable about this, I assured them: "Please stay for breakfast with me. I would feel bad to let you go with an empty stomach, and I will have Mr. Miller drive you home later on – I insist!"

When the Madison family finally said Good Bye, Rue came close to me and said: "Thank you, Mr. Sinterguth, for having us, and specifically for giving me a sleep without nightmares."

I replied: "Rue, it was a pleasure to have you here. Feel free to visit again if you want. And I do not really know what I did to help you sleep, but you are very welcome."

Later on, Prim looked at me and told me: "During the night, I once had to go to the bathroom, and when I returned, I saw Rue and you sleeping in the easy chair. The two of you looked so comfortable and peaceful together – this was so cute!"

I replied with a frown: "Prim, I think this is probably the first since I was a toddler that someone called me cute."

Prim corrected herself quickly: "Not you by yourself, but you together with Rue!"

I was not really sure what to think about that. Yes, my sleep next to Rue had been a peaceful and good one, but us looking cute together? Really?

Well, today was Sunday, and I decided to walk Prim back to the Seam. Close to the Everdeen house we met Katniss, who just returned from a morning trip to the forest. She looked excited and told us: "Guess what – I found a huge area covered with blackberry bushes, and they are almost ripe!"

I smiled and replied: "That's great – I love blackberries! Katniss, do you think you can organize getting them picked, maybe with the help of the Seam children? I can provide buckets and baskets to collect them, and I'd suggest that a part goes to the hob for making jam and to preserve some berries, another part goes to my house and Mrs. Miller will do the same, and the rest goes to everybody who wants to eat them – what do you think?"

Before Katniss could respond, Prim shouted: "Yes, this sounds great – let's do this!", and Katniss also nodded.

As I was already here, I decided to walk into the Everdeen residence together with Prim and say hello. Before I could greet Mrs. Everdeen, though, Prim jumped up and down and started to talk like a waterfall: "Mom, guess what, we played in Tim's pool yesterday, and we played games, and we got wonderful snacks, and I slept in Monica's room, and she is nice, and we found Rue sleeping with Timotheus in the living room, and they were so cute together, and..."

"Prim, hold on and slow down, please" Mrs. Everdeen injected. "That is way too much information at once!"

Prim stopped and meekly said: "Sorry, mom."

"That's okay, Prim", Mrs. Everdeen replied, and then she looked at me with a smirk: "So, you slept with Rue?"

I may have actually blushed a little: "Well, she did not want to sleep alone, so that I invited her to stay in the living room until her parents came back, and I dozed off, and somehow she found herself next to me. By the way, did you have a good evening yesterday?"

Mrs. Everdeen smiled and nodded: "Yes, we did, indeed; thank you for asking. But let me get back to Rue for a moment, please. Her parents told me me about her nightmares – how often did she wake you up?"

"That's an interesting point, Mrs. Everdeen", I replied. "As a matter of fact, we both slept peacefully, and as far as we can tell, she did not have a single nightmare. Her parents were quite surprised to hear that."

Mrs. Everdeen also looked surprised now: "This is quite interesting, but good for her."

I definitely wanted to talk about something else now and thus asked: "How is the herb garden doing?"

Prim's mother replied happily: "Oh, just great. I have already been able to get some medical plants from there for my needs, and Prim and Leevy are really doing a great job tending the garden."

After some more small talk I left again and went home, taking the long way along the border of the forest. This allowed me to review some issues in my head, but finally I came to the conclusion that there was nothing to be ashamed of, and I was quite calm again when I reached my home.


	10. Chapter 10 - Summer time in district 12

**Chapter 10: Summer time in district 11**

Summer was in full swing, school holidays had started some time ago, and everybody was enjoying the warm temperatures. Actually, contemplating that, maybe those who had to sleep in houses heated up during the day did not enjoy the heat so much – I was lucky because my mansion was fully air conditioned.

Over time, the heat actually increased even more, and I could see people sweating a lot. I wondered where they would have a chance to cool down – was there a lake or pond in the Seam for swimming? Thinking about it, there wasn't, and I decided to talk to Haymitch about it; I found him in his office, and he told me: "No, the Seam residents do not really have anything to cool down, and it has been like that for decades at least. There is a nice lake further down in our forest, and a few brave people have ventured there for fishing and swimming. I bet Katniss and Gale at least know the place. However, there is no path or road going there, and most locals would not find their way to the lake."

I pondered that and asked him: "Is that lake large and clean enough to potentially serve as swimming place for all?"

Haymitch quickly confirmed: "Yes, as far as I know it is, although you might also want to ask Katniss. Maybe we should ask her right now, as she is next door looking at some maps." With that he left and soon came back with Prim's sister. I repeated my question and she confirmed: "Of course, the lake is great, it is reasonably clean and large enough. If we had a good path to get there, most Seam people would welcome the chance to cool down in the water, I guess."

I asked for more details: "If we wanted to clear a path, would we be able to wind through the trees and just have to remove some bushes, or would we have to fell a lot of trees?"

Katniss thought about that for a minute and then told us: "At least most of the way we just needed to clear bushes and scrubs, but this would have to be done on a distance of maybe two kilometers."

I suggested: "We just happen to have a machine I recently purchased which can clear a path through forest quite quickly, if no trees are in the way. I had planned to use it for creating some small paths to get to places we need to get more frequently, like to the blackberry bush area, and clearing that path has already started. I will give the order that a few hands get to work with the path to the lake starting tomorrow. Katniss, can you please be around and show the men where to start and where to go – let's get this done!"

The machine I had purchased had arrived recently from one of the companies owned by my family. The device was a prototype and they were field testing it, and I actually did them a favor by operating it and providing some feedback on how well it worked. Thus, I spent part of the next day observing the path clearing operation, and although not everything worked perfectly, the path to the lake was cleared and changed into a nice forest track within less than a week. I left it to Prim and Katniss to inform everybody that they were welcome to go swimming or just relax around the lake anytime they wanted to, and soon the offer was readily accepted.

Reviewing my work so far this year in the evening, I concluded that I had started quite a few helpful activities for the Seam residents, namely the herb garden, the soup kitchen, access to the forest lake for swimming, and hiring Katniss as hunter. In addition, the site now had a first wind generator, a battery storage unit, and street lighting along a few Seam roads for a start, plus some experiments with different seeds. I knew that this was only a start, but it was a good start.

After a few very hot weeks, summer was almost over. Prim had visited me two or three times a month, and I had arranged a few visits from Rue as well, when she could take the same school bus as Prim, join me at my place, and I was to drive her home in the evening. Rue claimed that she could do her homework better when doing it together with Prim, and sometimes I also joined them – it never hurt to see what the school taught nowadays. During one of those visits Rue told me that her parents were soon going to attend a funeral of some relative in another district and were going to be away from home for a few days. As the Madisons did not have close friends in their district, they had contacted Mrs. Everdeen, and Prim´s mother had volunteered to take Rue for this time. I was happy for Rue and Prim as I knew that they liked to spend time with each other.

While Rue stayed with the Everdeens, I was invited there for one evening to join dinner and conversation, and I gladly accepted. I arrived there in the late afternoon, and as this was a very nice and sunny early autumn day, we first went for a walk around the Seam and spent some time at the herb garden. Timing was perfect, as some of the late berries were ripe and ready to eat, and the sinking sun bathed the leaves with golden rays. When we got back to the Everdeen house, we had dinner together, and soon Prim and Rue went up to Prim´s room for some girl games, while Mrs. Everdeen, Katniss and I talked about various topics, like my further plans, Prim´s grades at school, how Katniss' hunting was going, and such. Soon Mrs. Everdeen went upstairs to bring Prim and Rue to bed (Rue was sleeping on a second bed in Prim´s room), and we continued talking. I really enjoyed being here, and Mrs. Everdeen had interesting insight into what happened in the Seam. But of course, with herself being a healer, she would know a lot about people. I had actually heard from Prim that her mother had almost collapsed after her husband´s death and not gone out much, but that had changed again during the last couple of years.

Just when I planned to take my leave, some commotion could be clearly heard from upstairs. Mrs. Everdeen went up to have a look and came down soon again with Rue at her hand, and she addressed me: "Rue has had another nightmare and now refuses to get asleep again. Now she insists to sit together with you. I do not know if this helps, but could you please stay for some more time and sit with her here on the sofa? Thinking back of the time at your house, this might help."

I nodded and agreed to that proposal: "Sure, I am not in a hurry at all." Addressing the girl, I asked her: "Rue, would you want to sit here with me for some time?" The petite girl just nodded and jumped on the sofa, pushing herself close to me. Mrs. Everdeen handed me a blanket and said: "Thank you for doing this for Rue." I replied: "Not at all, Mrs. Everdeen. Rue is always welcome to sit at my side."

Mrs. Everdeen lighted a small candle on the other side of the room and left us, and I put my feet up on a low stool and tried to relax with Rue at my side. After a few minutes, the girl apparently got sleepy again, and her upper body slowly moved to my side; I put my arm and part of the blanket around her and hope that she would be able to get to sleep soon. About half an hour Mrs. Everdeen got back to check on us, while I was still awake. She whispered: "Rue seems to be asleep, but it will be difficult to get her up without waking her, as she is cuddled so close to you."

As I was now also quite tired and felt very comfortable in my current position, I whispered back: "Yes, I have noticed. If you don't mind, let us both sleep here on the sofa, so that I can make sure to comfort her if another nightmare plagues her."

Mrs. Everdeen nodded and said: "All right, and thank you again."

Soon after that sleep claimed me, and I only woke up when somebody started to laugh. Slowly opening my eyes I saw some sun rays shining into the room, and Prim was there, smiling and smirking: "Hey, good morning you two lovebirds!" I may have blushed a little, because I actually had been very comfortable with a sleeping Rue at my side and her body pressed against mine, but I was spared a reply because Mrs. Everdeen came in: "Prim, stop antagonizing our guests! I asked Mr. Sinterguth to stay so that Rue could enjoy a peaceful sleep."

With all the commotion and talks Rue now also woke up and rubbed her yes, and Prim´s mother asked her: "Rue, did you sleep all right? I asked Mr. Sinterguth to stay, and he was kind enough to take care of you – I hope that this was all right."

Rue yawned and claimed: "I had such a good sleep again, with no bad dreams at all", and smiled at me in a very nice and touching way, which somehow made something my heart stir.

Naturally, I stayed for breakfast, but then I started my walk home. During the walk I was thinking a lot, mostly about Rue. I knew that I liked kids of her age, from my youth group time at home, but I was not used to thinking abut them that much. Rue however kept my mind busy more times than I liked and expected, and I started to feel that we had some kind of special bond – what kind of bond, I did not know at all, except that it was a good one. But anyway, I was happy for her that she had been able to sleep after all without any bad dreams.

Fortunately the next days provided enough distractions for me, so that my mind was not always busy thinking about Rue. A second wind generator was about to arrive, and my workers were preparing the foundation. The standard wind power plants all had a horizontal axis and three blades, whereas the new one to be coming to the site had a vertical axis. Actually, we had ordered several different ones with vertical axis, as there wasn't a standard concept for the blade shapes yet for those types, and I planned to experiment with efficiency and also noise generation. The first one would be a 'Savonius' type, with a kind of enclosed rotor having several blades inside. It was in total smaller than the first system, but I was curious to see it in operation.

It turned out that the two ex-miners I had recently hired – Thom and Bristel – showed some interest in the power plants, and while they had initially been working on mechanical tasks like the foundations, they were asking many question on the electrical side, so that Haymitch had decided to let them work together with the experts part of the time.

In parallel, crop harvesting was in full progress on some fields, and the first batches of flour were ready from different types of wheat and rye. Remembering my deal with the Mellark bakery, I loaded a few sacks of each in a large pick up truck and drove the load down to the bakery. Peeta and Mr. Mellark came out to greet me, and I showed what I had, explaining the different type I had and how they had been processed. Besides the different crop species, we had also experimented with different ways of grinding and milling, so that there were some sacks with pure white flour and some with whole grain flour. We worked together to move all sacks into the bakery store room and talked about payment. As I had suggested earlier in the year, I asked for about half the normal flour price in exchange for getting detailed feedback on the suitability of each type of flour for baking bread and pastries.

"Mr. Mellark", I told the baker, "as I had mentioned to your youngest son earlier this year, we want to find out which species of wheat and rye can be best grown in the local climate with moderate cost. Peeta mentioned that you have to pay a lot for flour imported from other areas, and we want to find out if we can offer that for a lower price. Ultimately, if we succeed, you should be able to offer cheaper bread for the customers who cannot afford the expensive one. My company does similar experiments in different areas of the country, and this is part of the foundation´s goal to provide better and more food for those who need it."

The baker nodded: "For a long time I have regretted that we can't offer cheaper bread, specifically for the Seam residents. What you do may change this, and as my son has said before, we're fully behind you."

A couple of days later the installation of solar cells above a smaller field started. As we had discussed before, a few scientists had had the idea to only cover a small part of the field with solar cells, so that less than 10% of the ground would be shaded at any time. The solar panels were supposed to be built at least five meters above ground, so that the tractors and other vehicles could still pass unimpeded. In order to allow construction of the support pillars, nothing had been planted yet on the test field, and today the slender but robust pillars were to be erected. The pillars were also used for testing, as each row was planned to be made of different material. We wanted to find out which material was suited best, judged by cost, aesthetics, resistance against all kind of weather (rain, storm, snow), and maintenance effort (like applying anti-rust paint for metal struts). For a while we had even thought to plant trees for support, but had discarded the idea for the moment; we might get back to that later on and plant some in a different field, but we'd have to wait for quite a few years before the trees were large enough to not move too much in string winds.

Anyway, the first pillars were delivered via truck, and a team of workers started to put them into the ground at the designated places. Again this was something I did not actually need to supervise, but did so anyway, as it was quite interesting. This first set of pillars were fully made of steel and could be kind of drilled into the ground with some special machinery the truck had with it. At the end of the day three rows of six pillars each were set, and tomorrow the structures with the solar cells were going to be delivered and mounted. Mr. Brown had brought his tractor to make sure that the pillar height was good enough, and there was enough room to spare. The distance between the pillars was optimized in a way so that the tractors with the typical tools like plow and harrow or a fully loaded harvesting trailer could easily pass. Furthermore, the pillars had integrated beacons the tractors could 'listen' to, and this should eventually enable fully autonomous driving.

After all of this work I remembered that I had promised to visit Wiress again at the hospital. She had been Rue´s roommate and felt somewhat lonely when we had visited Rue. Of course I did not know if she was still there, but a call to the hospital confirmed this. I sent a letter to the hospital asking for visiting permissions for Prim, Rue, and myself, to be signed by the hospital administration, as Wiress did not have parents alive any longer. Soon enough, as Dr. Aurelius knew me, permission was granted, and I checked with Rue´s parents and Prim´s mother about a good day for the visit.

Meanwhile, Haymitch had done some research into the geology and usage of the area around district 12, and he had something to report when we had our regular meeting: "The coal mines have moved from time to time. That is, they had started to extract the coal from places where it was most easy to get, but eventually, when the supply was exhausted, they had to move on and drill mine shafts in different places. The second coal mine, which was abandoned a couple of decades ago, is right adjacent to our lands and has not been used since. I asked a few inconspicuous questions, and the land is for sale if anybody is interested."

I did not quite get the point and asked him: "Why should we want to purchase an old coal mine? Do you think we can get more coal our with modern technology? This is not really what I plan to do."

Haymitch shook his head: "No, indeed not. But we are looking for a good location to construct a plant for pumped storage hydro power. The coal mine is quite deep and extensive, and we might be able to use the depths as lower basin."

Now I got it: "Ah, this is indeed interesting. If this works out, we might be able to construct such a plant with minimal changes to the environment on ground level, and we will be able to take advantage of the significant altitude different between the lower levels of the coal mine and open ground."

Haymitch nodded and continued: "Yes, even more as there is a lake higher up in the hills we might be able to use. The area is completely unpopulated, it is close enough to the former coal mine, and likely also available for purchase. The lake is not huge, but big enough and deep enough for a good start."

Now I was really interested: "Haymitch, please ask our plant engineer to write an expertise on the feasibility based on the data we have, plus a summary of cost if we went ahead. If this looks good, we will do it. In addition, we might want to check to what extent some of the lakes on our ground can be used for recreational purposes, like fishing and swimming. I know that there is at least one lake in the forest which we already have dedicated to swimming, but some other lakes probably have more fish in it, which should also contribute to nourishment. Eventually, we might look for one or two dedicated fishermen, I guess."

Haymitch nodded again: "Yes, indeed. Let me get some more data on the lakes, and we can talk about details later on."


	11. Chapter 11 - Fall holiday week

**Chapter 11: Fall holiday week**

Meanwhile, Rue's parents and Prim's mother had appreciated the idea to have their daughters visit Wiress together with me, and we set up the following Wednesday for that. Wednesday seemed to be a good day as school was out early and visiting hours were open for the whole afternoon. As a matter of fact, as Prim was one of the very few friends Rue had, I had suggested that Rue might want to come to my place on a regular basis on Wednesday afternoons together with Prim. The girls would do their homework together at my house, get some food, and either my housekeeper or I would drive both of them home in the evening. The Madisons were initially somewhat reluctant to impose on me like that, but I had been able to convince them by insisting that this was not a problem for me at all and that I was actually going to enjoy those visits. I really found myself looking forward to Wednesdays, and while I did not really dare to mention this to many people, I preferred the girls' company to most adults.

Anyway, Wednesday this week was here now, and I picked up Prim and Rue from their school. The two of them were chatting happily, and soon were were on our way towards the city hospital. Traffic was quite dense today, and we took somewhat longer than usual. Just a few hundred meters from the hospital parking area a group of pedestrians started to cross the road from the other side, apparently without looking for traffic. The car coming from the other direction, which was quite close, tried to change direction in order to avoid hitting them, but the distance was too tight and the driver lost control, skidding over to my side of the road. I barely had time to register the danger and step on the brakes when the other car hit my car head on – fortunately at low city speed – and immediately all airbags went off. I was getting dizzy from the crash and may have been out for a few seconds, but soon I found out that I was basically uninjured, probably except for some bruises and such – thanks to the sturdy design of my Jeep and the extensive safety equipment. Passers-by were approaching our two cars and asking if we needed help, and I told them that I did not know yet, but it would be good to call police and ambulance, which I was told they had already done. My next concern was to check how my two girls were doing; it turned out that they were also not injured much, but in shock. Fortunately, as we were almost at the hospital, the first ambulance arrived within less than two minutes, and they first looked at the occupants of the other car, which was a normal sedan and probably less sturdily built than mine. A second ambulance arrived and the paramedics looked at the two girls.

When a police car arrived, police officers questioned the witnesses, and fortunately some of them had seen the reckless pedestrians who had started to cross the road without looking and thus had caused the accident. A group of men had prevented them from leaving, and the police officers were now fully in charge, so that I had time to look how the girls were doing. A paramedic ran a quick check on me just to find out that I was all right, and he told me that the girls were mostly suffering from shock, and they'd run some tests at the hospital. Naturally, I told them that I would be around later on; first I needed to wait for my replacement car from the dealer.

An hour later or so I was told at the hospital that Prim and Rue only needed a few hours of rest and could be released after that time; I suggested to move them into a room together with Wiress, and I tagged along. Naturally, Wiress was quite confused to see us like this, but quite soon the three girls started bonding and chatting again. Seeing that they were all right I went to the reception desk to ask about the two occupants of the other car; naturally they could not tell me details, but I learned that they were a couple from district 4, and that they'd have to stay for some time due to their injuries. I asked to be informed when I could visit them, but would have to wait a few days, maybe a week or so – next Wednesday might work.

When I returned to the girls' room, I learned that Wiress needed to stay at the hospital for an extended period of time. She shrugged and said: "Well, you know, it's not so bad in here. The nurses are all very nice, much nicer than the adults in the orphanage where I used to stay. My illness is not life threatening, and eventually they will get me fully well again. Going back to the orphanage is not something I am looking forward to at all, also because of the other kids teasing me all of the time."

Rue hugged her and replied: "Oh, I so wish that you could stay with me and my parents when you get out of here. I miss an older sister, and I really like you."

While I listened to the conversation, I started to get an idea. Eventually I wanted the Madisons to work for me anyway to start looking at orchards and such, and a site with a few houses dedicated to people working for me was already under construction on the site. The place where the Madisons were currently staying was barely adequate, and due to their long work hours they sure would not be willing and able to take care of another kid. However, if I offered them jobs with limited work hours plus housing on my site, maybe Rue could talk their parents into adopting Wiress? Maybe I should first talk to our Major to find out what the rules for adoption were, too. I also was not really sure if I should meddle with other people's life like this and would need to think about it. Perhaps I should talk it over with my grandfather next time I went to visit him; I could always rely on his judgment.

Anyway, eventually the doctors released us and we could start our drive home with the substitute Jeep my dealer had offered, while my own Jeep was in for repairs.

A few days later Prim came for another visit, and she looked like she wanted to talk to me about something specific. After we had some tea together she started: "Tim, with all of the green energy stuff you are doing here, how does this work with driving big SUV like cars? Isn't this something which is not quite that good for the environment at all?"

I smiled and started to explain: "Prim, sure you would not expect me to not have thought about that? Naturally, all of the cars I own are electrical or hybrid cars. My favorite Jeep, for instance, is electrically driven with a small combustion engine as range extender, so that the battery does not have to be extremely large. My family's company also works on battery technology and strives to make battery manufacturing cheaper and less of an impact on the environment. In addition, the electrical energy I use, at least when charging at home, is generated from my plant's solar cells and wind turbines, so 100% green."

Prim looked relieved and responded: "Yes, I had noticed that your Jeep is awfully quiet, but I am not much of a technology expert and had not drawn the conclusion. This is good to hear."

Thinking about something else I addressed the young blonde girl: "Prim, I have thought about both Rue's family and Wiress. For Wiress, I would really like to get her introduced to my site here and get her to move to district 11; her talent is totally wasted where she is. Ideally, we could find a family to adopt her. For the Madison family, I want to get them moved here, too, both for personal reasons and for getting their expertise on orchards and such. I am going to offer both adults a job, and I hope that they will take it. The first group of employee houses on site is ready now, and they can take one if they want. Can you help to talk to them about that?"

Prim promised to do that, and she spent an hour or so to get started with her homework.

A couple of days later Prim stopped by again with a message from Rue's parents. Apparently, Rue's sleeping trouble and her nightmares had become worse again, and they wondered if I'd be willing to spend some time with them and their daughter. "Rue really looks very sleepy and tired at school", Prim added. "I am sure that she has not slept well for weeks at least, and we need to do something!"

I smiled seeing her concern and enthusiasm and replied: "And you are sure that I can really help?"

Prim looked at me: "Are you kidding? She is always so relaxed when she spends time with you!"

I nodded and asked: "Isn't week after next off at school?"

Prim confirmed: "Yes, week after next is school fall vacation time, indeed."

Thinking about that I suggested: "What about I invite the entire Madison family and you here and we spend the week together. This will also be an opportunity for me to ask Rue's parents if they'd be willing to move to district 11 and accept my job offer. What do you think?"

The blonde girl was excited and nodded: "Yes, Tim, please let's do this – this sounds great!"

This being discussed and decided, I immediately wrote the letters to the Madisons and to Prim's mother, for Prim to deliver.

Meanwhile, Katniss had her first forest report prepared and delivered, and I sat down in my office to read it. She had obviously been quite busy over the last weeks. Not only had she started to investigate into the animals in the forest, she had also made note on wood to harvest based on broken and damaged trees and such. Wood was important for firewood in the winter, and one of my goals was to provide some of that to the Seam residents, who relied on it for heating their houses.

We made sure that plenty of firewood was stored and would be available for sale, at low prices for residents. As kind of a compensation for the very low price, those who wanted to get larger quantities were supposed to help with cutting the wood to smaller pieces and with the transporting from the border of the forest to the individual homes.

The fall season was of course also very busy on the farms. Harvesting was done on some fields, and ploughing on others. My farmers also started to prepare some fields for winter and checked the feeding areas for birds, where required.

Also, I had been at the hospital a couple of times to find out how the two injured people from district 4 were doing, those who were involved in the car accident. Their names were Finnick and Annie, and they were engaged. I learned that they'd have to stay at the hospital for a couple of more weeks, and they would not be fit for work until some time in January most likely. As I also learned that they were not happy at the place they currently were, I asked what they were doing, and they both replied that were good swimmers and knew a lot about fishing and other water stuff. This triggered an idea in me, and I mentioned:

"Look, this is probably not relevant at all, but I am very active in green energy, and one of my per projects is a hydro storage plant. I have purchased the grounds around an old exhausted coal mine, and while I intend to use this as a lower level reservoir, I am thinking about creating a large artificial lake close to it as upper level reservoir. I have not thought much about the details, but I was hoping that it might be possible to use the new lake also for recreational purpose, like swimming and fishing. Eventually I will need somebody to plan and supervise those activities. If you'd want to consider that, why don't you give me a call later on?"

They agreed that they would think about it and I left my business card with them.

At the beginning of the fall holiday week, I had Mr. and Mrs. Madison and their daughter picked up from their home. They had gladly agreed to spend a week here, and Prim was also coming. Indian summer was in full swing, and the trees covering most hill slopes showed themselves in beautiful colors. Normally I used this time of the year to go for a couple of extended hikes, starting early in the morning and returning just at dusk. I was kind of hoping that my guests might share the appreciation for the beauty of mother nature. I also could imagine Katniss joining us, as she was quite a nature person, too.

As soon as my guests arrived, they were first shown to their rooms, and then we had lunch together. After lunch, when sitting on my large porch and enjoying the sunshine and the scenery, I brought up a few of my plans:

"You may have noticed the nice tree coloring outside. While I can imagine that you may not always be able to take some time off during that time of the year, you may realize that going for a hike is quite enjoyable during those weeks. I understand that you, Mr. Madison, may not be willing to go for larger hikes due to your bad leg, but maybe the rest of us could go for a couple of hikes, and you could spend some time with Mr. and Mrs. Brown, my farmers? I have to admit, though, that I have a hidden agenda here. I had mentioned before that I eventually plan to set up an orchard on my grounds at some time, and, if possible, I'd like to start preparations at least before winter. As I need some knowledgeable experts, I hereby offer a job both for you and your wife, and housing will be included. I imagine that life here might be a little easier than in your district, and I promise that your work will not be exploited."

Mr. and Mrs. Madison looked at each other, and soon Mr. Madison replied: "I will gladly spend a few days with your farmers to learn more about that, and I will probably take you up on the offer. We do have another reason for that, too..." - he looked at his wife to continue.

Mrs. Madison looked at him and then at her daughter and, after apparently thinking about the proper words, elaborated: "Mr. Sinterguth, you know that our daughter's health is not very good, and specifically you have been informed about her nightmares. In the last weeks the nightmares have been getting worse, and we are running out of options."

Indeed Rue looked very tired, and although her skin color did not really show that, kind of pale and exhausted.

Rues' mother continued: "We have observed earlier in the year, as you know quite well, that Rue has so far not had a nightmare when she was together with you. When she had spent some time in your company, she not only slept better, but also looked happier and healthier, potentially related to the better sleeping. We were kind of hoping that, if we moved here, the two of you could spend more time together, if that's not imposing too much."

I could not avoid smiling and answered: "Actually, this was a second reason for the job offer I am making. I care a lot for you and your daughter, and I would enjoy spending more time with Rue. This is not imposing at all, as it is going to be beneficial for both sides. To be honest, dealing with adults all day long can be kind of tiring, although, being an engineer, I like to talk technical details and facts. Spending some time with somebody Rue's age is really refreshing and nice. I would not mind at all to have her at my side frequently."

While Prim smiled and looked very happy and smug, Mr. Madison commented on that: "Well, I have to admit that you reacted almost exactly like Prim predicted. We were hesitating to put those points forward, but Prim assured us that this would be okay and you would happily agree."

"Yes, indeed" I said. "Prim has been another example of keeping me company during the last few months, and I have very much enjoyed that. Children do have a very special place in the Bible, too, and although I do not have own kids yet, being together with them is something I do enjoy."

I further added: "I do have another point on the agenda Prim probably does not know about. We all have met Wiress at the hospital, and she is an orphan. When I talked to her, I was surprised to learn about her level of technical understanding. However, at the orphanage and her school this gift is not appreciated as far as I know, and she feels like this is more of a burden for her. I would love to get her here and have her work part time in my labs, both to increase her knowledge and to take advantage of it. I imagine working on the topics here, like green energy and everything related, would be fun for her. Of course, as she is still a minor, this is not so easy. And now I am afraid that I might impose on you. Wiress seemed to have few friends, but she got along quite well with Rue, I believe."

Rue cut in here: "Oh yes, I do miss her a lot, and during my time at the hospital she grew to be a very good friend of mine. I too wish that she could be here with me."

"You see", I continued while smiling, "having Wiress here would be good for her, for Rue, and for me. We only need to find foster parents for her, and I wonder if could consider doing that? I do not know if the orphanage would agree, but if they did, it would be really good. Naturally, I'd make sure that the housing you get is big enough, and your salary will be good enough to cover all additional expenses, for sure. Let me emphasize that my job offer is of course independent from your potential willingness to adopt Wiress; there's no blackmail hidden here!"

Mrs. Madison almost had tears in her eyes now, and Mr. Madison explained: "We are both touched by your kind words, and your behavior proves that you are a kind and generous person. We certainly will need a few days to ponder all of that, but I am confident that we shall be able to provide an answer to your questions before our week here is over."

Right for the next day, as the weather was still beautiful with no rain in the forecast, we – that is Mrs. Madison and her daughter, Prim, and myself – were going for a nature hike, while Mr. Madison would be guided towards the farmhouse by my housekeeper; I had already introduced him to my farmers on the day before.

We packed lunch in two backpacks and started to walk along a road towards the mountains. The area did not have many marked hiking trails at all, but there were a few, and I had picked a round trip which would keep us busy for almost a full day and would allow us to mostly walk in or along the forest, including a couple of nice vista points.

While we were walking I mentioned to Prim to remind me to talk to Katniss to think about more hiking trails. While this certainly was not a priority, it would be nice.

After walking mostly through the forest, stopping for a few minutes occasionally to enjoy the beautiful fall colors, eventually we reached the summit of a small hill which provided a nice view around. A few smaller bright white clouds interrupted the blue sky, and the sunshine had warmed the air and ground sufficiently to allow us to have a picnic. We laid out a large blanket on the ground and arranged what we had brought with us in the backpacks, and soon all of us were busy chewing. After lunch, the warm sunshine invited to stay for some time, and I relaxed, stretched myself, and tentatively closed my eyes for a little time. Using my backpack as pillow, the soft and warm grass was nice to be on, and I felt quite comfortable. Soon something moved at my side, and when I opened my eyes partially I noticed Rue getting close; apparently she was going to have a nap and wanted to have it close to me. I opened my arm for her and she cuddled up to me. Looking over to her mother I saw Mrs. Madison smiling and nodding, giving her silent approval, so that I closed my eyes again.

I must have nodded off for a few minutes, when I woke from some odd girlish noises or so. Looking up I saw Prim standing by, smiling at Rue in my arm and giggling. Rue was still asleep, but Prim said that we might want to head back. More clouds had appeared, and some of them to the west were getting darker, indicating a weather change. We woke up Rue, packed our belongings, and headed down the hill on another trail.

Prim and Rue were jumping ahead, and Mrs. Madison talked to me while we were walking: "You know, Mr. Sinterguth, it is really kind of incredible how much Rue enjoys being close to you. Normally I should be somewhat cautious seeing her getting that close to a male adult, but I cannot avoid to see how good this is for her. My husband and I both love her, but we seem to be unable to help her sleep without bad dreams, whereas you can. Sometimes I feel a little jealous because of you because of that, but I guess it happens that children bond more with a nanny or such than with the own parents."

I laughed at her last words: "Strange nanny I am!"

"Seriously", Mrs. Madison continued, "you two really have something special. Rue does not have many friends at all. She is sometimes mobbed at school due to her dark skin color and her shyness, and she does not easily gain friends at all. For the last few years, Prim has been the only person one could consider a friend of hers. In addition, as you know, she has been plagued by nightmares on a regular basis since that tragic car accident, and if she now finds some comfort in and with you, I am happy for her. There's just one issue I need to mention: Please do not take advantage of her or hurt her!"

I looked at her and confirmed: "Thank you for trusting me in that, and I assure that hurting her is not on my list of things to do. We both know that there are situations in life where one cannot avoid hurting another person, but I really care for your daughter, and I will give my best to make her life a little easier. If spending time with me and being close to me makes her more happy and drives away her bad dreams, this is perfectly fine for me and I will be both honored and pleased to provide that service. Actually, as I probably mentioned before, spending time with her makes me happy as well. Although I do not fully understand why that is, I do enjoy the opportunity to spend time with Rue and be close to her, both physically and mentally."

Rather than responding Mrs. Madison just took my hand and pressed it firmly, and we silently continued our hike until getting back to my house safely before the rain started.


	12. Chapter 12 - Christmas in Panem

**Chapter 12: Christmas in Panem**

A few rainy days kept us in the house for most of the time, and we kept ourselves busy with reading, playing games, and talking. Mr. Madison spent many hours together with Mr. and Mrs. Brown, and they devised some kind of initial plan on how to start the first orchard. Katniss had been around for a few hours, and I had mentioned the concept of marking more hiking trails; she would look at that in the next spring and summer, as current priorities were more focused on collecting firewood and preparing for the winter. The last couple of days brought some sunshine again, so that we spent the remaining days of the fall holiday week with hiking and doing lots of outdoor stuff. Rue enjoying a noon nap in my arms was becoming a regular event, and to be honest, I enjoyed those times as much as she did. Before the end of the week we visited the worker housing site, and I showed the Madisons the house I had in mind for them; they liked it a lot, and they said that it was significantly larger and nicer that the one they currently rented in district 11.

Finally Mr. and Mrs. Madison confirmed that they were going to accept my job offer and move in as soon as possible. Regarding Wiress, they were going to visit her next week and have a long talk with her. If she liked the idea of being adopted by them, they were willing to go ahead with that plan as well.

Christmas was now getting close, and the big moving day was there. I had sent a truck to the Madison's old residence in district 11 to pick up their belongings, and I had recently learned that Wiress was more than happy to become a member of their family. All of those events were in my mind very nice Christmas presents, and I had quite a warm feeling in my heart. This reminded me of what my grandfather frequently repeated and emphasized – when you were rich, you had a responsibility for others, and one should spent some effort to do good things for others. That guideline was also showing in the way our big family 'empire' was governed. We all considered this less as a big company, but more as a huge family, and we strove to only engage in a business where we could put people first and where an activity was either benefiting mankind as a whole or at least not be negative. For instance, investigating in green energy was such a beneficial business, whereas we refused to get involved in manufacturing of weapons.

Together with my housekeepers I had spent an hour or two adding some seasonal decorations to the new Madison residence. A small Christmas tree was set up in the living room, the fridge was stocked, and some supplies were added to the larder. A phone was installed, heating turned on, and some other details attended to, until I had the feeling that the new home was ready for the family to arrive here. Wiress would be moving into the new home a few days later; the required paperwork had been completed just a few day ago. At this time we were lucky that the weather was not bad yet. In December, the area had sometimes seen major snowfall in past years, but this year there was just barely a snow cover on the fields, and the roads were clear.

Work on the fields was almost nonexistent this time of the year, same with installation of new wind generators or solar cells, so that work mostly consisted of planing ahead. On the other hand, I wanted to get prepared for lots of snow, and one of the vehicles available to me was a German Unimog, a heavy duty 4x4 truck with a universal mount for a snowplough and such. This vehicle stood on huge all terrain tires and had both ultra low gears and differential locks available; with snow chains attached it was supposed to be able to safely navigate through snow of almost half a meter on the ground, and, with a snowplough in front, it had enough engine power to push snow up to about 30cm high aside easily; it could also drive through water up to almost one meter deep. Naturally, to go along with my fleet of environmental friendly vehicles, I had replaced the standard diesel engine with an electrical motor and a set of batteries, the latter being placed below the flatbed; this of course obsoleted the original gear box. The batteries only provided a range of not more than 150km on normal road and much less when using a snowplough or a snow blower, but I did not plan to go long distances with that special truck. To be on the safe side, I had added a very small and efficient range extender diesel engine, which could slowly recharge the battery if needed. I was looking forward to seeing how well it would do in upcoming hard weather conditions here, and to be able to legally operate it, I had spent extra time and money to acquire an appropriate drivers license; in addition, I had participated in an off road driving training for a week earlier this year.

Early afternoon on that nice day Prim and I waited outside of the new Madison home when a phone call from the removal van had alerted us that they were close, and a few minutes later the truck was approaching. The whole family stepped out of the cabin and started to look around, and they looked quite happy. As I had missed the last few Wednesday afternoon time slots due to other obligations and specifically due to a two week visit to my family in late November and early December, I had not seen Rue much since the fall holidays. When she noticed me, she jumped right into my arms, wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. Naturally I did not mind at all and hugged her back, probably a little longer than appropriate, as Prim interrupted after some time claiming that she wanted to hug Rue, too. Of course, I had also neglected to welcome Rue's parents, which I did now. While the Madison family was getting into the house, Prim whispered into my ear: "You like her a lot, don't you?"

I believe that I was somewhat embarrassed about that question, but this was Prim, always straight to the truth, or at least what she thought the truth was. After thinking about that for a few seconds I had to admit to myself that she was quite right, and I also admitted to her: "Yes, I believe that you are right – I do like her a lot!"

In the evening Rue was coming over to my house together with Prim. Mr. and Mrs. Madison were still busy with unpacking, and Rue was feeling too restless to help. In addition, I could see that she had again not slept well for some time, and she did not look too good. I thought that I knew what to do and invited the two girls into my big living room. I suggested that they pick a nice Christmas movie of their choice from my DVD collection, and they selected 'Miracle on 42nd street', which happened to be one of my favorites as well. Before we started the show, I asked Prim outside for a moment and talked to her: "Prim, the way Rue looks, she is probably very tired and exhausted. I expect her to fall asleep while we watch the movie, and I would not be surprised if she used my arm to cuddle with again. When that happens, can you please do me a favor and walk over to her parents so that they know she is asleep here. Tomorrow is Sunday, so that she can stay if her parents allow it. Ask them around for breakfast if they want."

Prim understood and nodded – I knew that I could rely on her; she was a real good and reliable friend. We went back into the room, made ourselves comfortable on the big couch and started to watch; of course I had placed a few drinks and snacks on the table. We had not yet passed the first ten minutes when Rue started to yawn a lot, and just a few minutes later her eyes were closed. I had just taken a blanket and wanted to spread it over her when she moved closer and, just as I had expected, grabbed my arm and pulled herself close to me. As I already had the blanket in my other arm, I spread it over both of us, hit the 'Pause' button on the remote control and gave Prim a hint to leave; she smiled and got up.

Half an hour later she was back and whispered into my ear: "No problem; they are happy that she is here, and they will gladly join us for breakfast."

"Thank you Prim", I whispered back, "you are a good friend. Want to continue watching the movie now?"

Prim nodded, and I pressed the 'Play' button while also turning down the volume a little. Rue was apparently really asleep and did not move. When the movie was over Prim took her leave, and I stayed with Rue. As I had expected that, I had dressed appropriately in loose jogging pants and a sweat shirt; I just switched off the lights which has already been dimmed before, stretched my body on the couch and made sure that Rue was also comfortable and could not easily fall down; eventually I fell asleep as well.

On the next morning I was getting awake as I heard voices, and my housekeeper, Mrs. Miller, was standing next to me: "Mr. Sinterguth, breakfast will be ready in ten minutes, and Mr. and Mrs. Madison will be arriving shortly. You may want to go to the bathroom before breakfast, I guess."

Indeed I wanted to, and now Rue was moving, too. She looked around and noticed where she had slept, but rather than looking a little embarrassed, she just smiled and told us that she had had a wonderful sleep. Mrs. Miller guided her to one of the guest bathrooms, and I went to my own.

At breakfast I was told by the Madison family that Wiress was to be coming here later today; a city vehicle was supposed to bring her. And indeed, before noon the car arrived and a beaming teenage girl stepped out. Mr. and Mrs. Madison had to sign a few final documents, and the car left again. Wiress had one bag with clothes and a large suitcase full of books, and we all walked them to the Madison residence, where Wiress could move to her own room. Of course they'd need some time to spend with each other and I took my leave, knowing that there was a very happy family in this house.

Next Wednesday early afternoon three girls walked into my house. Rue and Prim had resumed their usual visit, and Wiress was with them. I greeted them: "Welcome all of you. Wiress, I thought that you are in a different class – is school out for today for you as well?"

The girl smiled at me and confirmed: "Indeed. I am lucky as my timetable shows end of school lessons for Wednesday at the same time as for Prim and Rue, and they suggested to come with them. Is that all right?"

I nodded and said: "Indeed it is – welcome to my home again."

Wiress continued as we were sitting around a table inside: "I had a specific reason to come, too. When we met in the hospital some time ago, you mentioned that I could spend some time at your site and look at technical aspects for a few hours each week, as much as school work allows."

I nodded again: "Yes, I did say that, and if you are ready, you can do this. Why don't you spend the holidays with your new family, and soon afterwards we will have a contract for you. You will have a chance to look at what I am doing here, I will introduce you to my staff, and we will find out where you can potentially contribute. All right for you to start in the first week of the new year?"

Wiress beamed at me and nodded, and I gave the kids some time to get started on their homework, while I went to get Haymitch. When we got back, I introduced him: "Wiress, this is Haymitch Abernathy, my director of operations. When you start working with us, he will show you around. Haymitch, this is Wiress whom I told you about. Starting next year I want her to look into what we are doing, in particular the technical aspects, and see if we find something she can contribute to. I believe that she has a bright technical mind, but of course her work time will be limited by school."

I also introduced Wiress to the Miller family, my housekeepers, and soon after Prim left for her home, whereas I walked Rue and Wiress to the Madison residence.

Christmas was very close now, and it was going to be my first winter holiday season here in Panem. I had decided to invite all of my employees for a Christmas celebration and lunch. While I was expecting most people to spend the 24th and the 25th with their own families, the celebration was planned for the 26th of December. As everybody would not easily fit into my home, I had spent some effort together with the team to decorate and equip a huge empty barn. We had put up seats and tables for all, and a large Christmas tree was placed on one side. Mr. and Mrs. Miller had been busy for days together with some hands to get everything prepared, and I had hired a few additional people to help with food preparations; after all, I wanted my housekeeper family to be able to enjoy the event as well. In addition I had purchased small presents for everybody, including families, and the invitations had already been sent out.

While I spent the 24th at home together with the Miller family, I was invited to the Everdeens on the 25th. Of course I had small presents for everybody, and special one for Prim – I got her an own camera. Both her mother and she claimed that this was way too much, but I insisted and emphasized that Prim had grown to be a real good friend. It was good to see that even Katniss was not showing her trademark scowl, but had warmed up a little to the holidays. In addition I was happy to see that Peeta Mellark was also around, and once could not avoid the two of them looking at each other quite frequently. After lunch Prim found them making out in the kitchen, and Katniss could not avoid to admit that Peeta was now her boyfriend. Apparently she was not really happy about making that public, but I guess with the way they looked at each other everybody would be aware of that sooner or later, and Prim did not hesitate to point that out quite clearly. I also found the time to sit together with Peeta for a short time and ask about progress at the bakery. He told me: "We have done quite a few experiments with the different flour types you delivered some time ago. Why don't you stop by at the bakery some time in January and my Dad and I can show the details." I agreed to that.

On the next day the first guests started to show up in the barn I had prepared close to noon. I was there to shake everybody's hands and bid them welcome, while the service team I had hired provided some drinks. Due to my own conviction all of the drinks were non alcoholic. I knew that a few people, including my trusted Haymitch, would not be too happy about that, but that was one of the rules on my premises. Those who definitely felt like they needed alcoholic drinks would have to indulge at home.

When everybody had arrived and just before lunch was supposed to be served, I stood up for a speech:

"My dear employees and families, this is close to the end of the first year of Sinterguth operations here in district 12. You may have noticed that work in the company is somewhat different from work in most other companies. While we are also oriented towards making profit, my grandfather, who is the current leader, firmly believes that it pays to treat employees more than extended families than hired workers. We have been doing this for centuries to some extent at least, and the results have been mostly positive. Part of our family and company goals is to aid humankind and the planet. Global warming is now a fact rather than a theory, and those denying it are part of a small minority and no longer believable. Our company set up a foundation decades ago to focus on green energy and means to help poor people in poor countries, who do not have reliable access even to clear water and other basic needs. This site, as you know, mostly works on green energy, and we try to find what works under local rough climatic conditions. Results we have achieved will be patented, but we will make licenses available for little money. The main reason we go for patents at all is to prevent other companies to take patents and sell licenses only for very high amounts of money.

But enough about business. I am very happy to have all of you and your families here with me today, and I am looking forward to working with you in the future. Please feel always welcome to ask questions and to offer suggestions if you think something could or should be changed. For now, Happy Christmas to all of you and enjoy your meal and the time here!"

I sat down again and everybody applauded, and then lunch was served. Looking around, I was indeed feeling like being part of an extended family. I had thought about going home for Christmas and talked to my parents about that, but they had confirmed me in my idea to stay here and be available for the people around here. This was my home now, but my parents had promised to stop by a few days later.

After lunch I started to feel a little bit tired. I had been awake and busy since early morning making sure everything was properly prepared, and I decided to retreat to a comfortable chair in a corner for some time to rest my feet and maybe close my eyes for a few minutes, while people talked to each other and soft music was playing in the background. Before I noticed Rue was suddenly beside me and hopped on my lap, making herself comfortable for a nap apparently. Well, she was welcome from my point of view.

A few minutes later a few people noticed us in the corner and started to look in our direction. Soon Prim was getting closer and taking pictures with an expensive looking camera. I asked her where she got it from and she replied: "I offered to be the official photographer for the party, and Mr. Miller lent me the camera, while Wiress taught me how to operate it properly. Now smile!"

Of course, being the host, I could not afford to really nap and rest for an extended period of time, but I managed about twenty minutes at least, before I had to return. In the evening, when reflecting on the day, I had the feeling that everybody had been enjoying the celebration and that I should repeat something like that next year. My last thoughts before drifting off to sleep were about Rue and how nice it was to nap with her in my arms.

The next morning brought me back to reality, though. I recalled the thoughts I had had the night before and chastised myself about the thoughts related to Rue, or at least I tried to do so. On one side I knew exactly that I was not supposed to long for sleeping with a young girl in my arms, but on the other side it felt so right. Maybe I needed to consult a psychiatrist and something was wrong with my brain waves?

Anyway, my parents were coming today, and I spent a few very nice days with them showing them around, talking, and enjoying the quiet days.

_[Author's Note: The 'Unimog' really exists and has been built in various versions for decades. See wiki/Unimog . My Unimog with snowchains clearing snow would look like this: ]_


	13. Chapter 13 - The big blizzard

**Chapter 13: The big blizzard**

The new year started with clouds gathering on the horizon. The weather forecast predicted lots of precipitation, and while down in the city most of that might be rain, it was going to be all snow at our altitude. We were only about 200m higher than the city, but city temperatures were also higher due to lost of houses and heating. In winter, district 12 temperatures were on average 3-5 degrees lower than those in the city. Getting lots of snow in the inter months was, or so I had been told when moving here, nothing unusual at all.

On January 2nd I had my hands double check the high poles we had on the sides of the roads on the site to make sure that the snowplough could easily detect where the roads ended. In addition, I visited the district mayor, Mr. Undersee, and offered to help with ploughing in the district if snowfall was really bad. I also pointed out that we had a large stack of firewood available at the edge of the forest, and citizens were encouraged to take some of that if they were running out. Further I had some spare supplies, tinned food and such, delivered to the Hob so that citizens running out of food could get some. Mayor Undersee appreciated my offer and was glad that somebody outside of the Seam cared.

During the night to January 3rd snow started to fall. At first it was a very light snowfall, and in the morning there were just a few centimeters on the ground. Children were running around outside on the roads and having fun, and a few tried to find out if this was good enough for a sled already. Temperatures were below zero all of the time, so that no snow melted on the ground. Around noon time the sun was out for a few hours; the Madisons came for a quick visit, and we walked outside for a while. Even before we were back, more snow came down, and towards the evening the snowfall increased in intensity. There was a snow and blizzard warning now out on the weather forecast, and I planned to get up early next morning to check.

Indeed, on the next morning everything looked white outside. Well, of course daylight was still a few hours away and I needed to rely on what I could see below the streetlights, but anyway. I had discussed plans with my employees the day before, and I knew that my farmer, Mr. Brown, would probably be out already with the big tractor and attached snowplough, taking care of the roads on site. Mr. Miller and I had attached a snowplough and snowchains to my Unimog the day before, and the exit ramp to my subterranean car park had a heated surface, so that this was going to be clear. Knowing that the city car park was probably going to take of this area last, I decided to make an attempt to clear a few main streets in district 12.

Taking my big Unimog out in snow was like playing with a toy for adults. I had lots of fun pushing snow around when I started driving and ploughing close to my home. Snow accumulation seemed to be between 20 and 30 cm, which was just fine for the powerful truck and the big snowplough. The big additional headlights on top of the cabin made sure that I could see where I was going before and at dawn, and I was slowly making way towards the Seam. As expected, no city plough had been here yet, and I slowly made progress clearing the main access road to and through the Seam. When I passed the Everdeen residence some time later, I saw Prim looking out of a window with big eyes. I stopped the truck and jumped out to go in for a moment, and Prim opened the door:

"Timotheus, how did you manage to get here in all of that snow?"

"Good morning to you, too, Primrose!"

"Oh, sorry, good morning"

"Well, do you see my big truck outside?"

"That's yours?"

"Yes it is, and the big snowplough helps to push the snow aside. Would you like to join me for a ride?"

"Can I? Yes, please! Just wait a second..."

Primrose was dressed for outside in record time, and I quickly went into the kitchen to greet her mother and tell her that I'd take Prim for a quick ride.

Back outside I helped Prim up to the cabin – in an Unimog, you almost need to climb up – and took my place at the wheel again. We spent a couple of hours or so to clear the main streets, and by then the Unimog's battery was almost empty and the range extender started to whir. When I brought Prim back home she invited me to breakfast, and I gladly accepted after I had talked to her mother to find out if that was all right with her.

Mrs. Everdeen told me: "Katniss is out checking the paths to the forest, to see if citizens can reach the firewood supplies; she should be back any moment."

Just as she finished, Katniss came back from outside and also sat down for breakfast. Between bites she reported: "There's even more snow between here and the forest than I thought. It was almost impossible even getting to the forest edge!"

"How is the ground between Seam and forest?"

"Partially uneven, with bushes and that. I doubt that the big truck has a chance to clear it."

"Okay – let me get one of my mobile snowblowers later on and see how that works. Can you round up a couple of strong men to operate it?"

"I think that I can – the men cannot get to work today anyway – Gale and some of his friends should be available."

"Right – can you have them meet me here again in two hours or so?"

Katniss just nodded, and after breakfast was completed, I left again. At home, I quickly attached a high power charger cable to the truck, and I got Mr. Miller's help to lift a small mobile snowblower up to the Unimog's flatbed. Close to the arranged time the battery was more than half full again and I set off to deliver the snowblower to the Seam. Gale and a couple of his friends waited for me; we unloaded the snowblower and I told them how to operate it. Handling was not complicated at all, and in no time that had started to work on the path towards the forest edge, so that access to the emergency firewood storage was possible.

Similar to the day before, the sun came out briefly around noon time, and after lunch I used the time for a quick walk around together with Haymitch. We double checked that the wind generators we had were properly prepared and lubricated and that the solar panels were clear. Fortunately, due to the inclination the panels needed to have in winter to fully catch the rays from the low sun, no snow accumulation was possible on them anyway. Also, the poles the panels were mounted on needed to be checked, but so far everything was all right and no damages apparent.

Haymitch advised: "You know, with those weather conditions, it probably won't be long before main power is out. I have seen it before."

I was curious: "But this area has harsh weather conditions on a regular basis. I have browsed through past weather reports, and a big blizzard seems to happen every other year or so. This was one of the reasons for me to pick the site, for testing equipment under adverse conditions. Surely the power companies know about that?"

Haymitch nodded and explained: "Sure they do. However, they compare cost between either spending a lot of money to have the power poles built very sturdily to withstand the storms and blizzards or building them much more cheaply and getting repair teams out several times a year. From what I have seen and heard, the second option seems to be cheaper. Having some areas without power for hours or days is obviously not a big concern for them."

I continued: "We should be independent here on our site anyway, right?"

Haymitch confirmed: "Yes, sure, with all of the preparations done this year, we should be for sure. The blizzard drives the wind generators at full power output, and we get solar power for a few hours when the sun comes out briefly. We also have a contribution from the small biomass plant the farmers are operating, and we have a small battery storage. Our site itself will be fine, specifically as we have all of our internal power lines underground."

Dusk was coming and the sun was already hiding behind the mountains again. While we were looking down towards the merchant area of district 12, which was brightly illuminated with storefronts and streetlights, suddenly all of those lights went out at once, including the street lights up to my home, whereas lights in my home and around were still on. Also, the main street into the Seam still had the street lights on as this was powered from our site.

"Perfect timing", my director and friend commented, "here we go. Main power is out!"

"How do citizens cope with that?"

"Everybody knows that main power is not reliable. Not only do we have outages due to adverse weather conditions more or less on a regular basis, but also is district 12 usually one of the first to be cut off during a brownout. This area does not have many means of electricity storage, and when demand is too high for any reason, they sometimes cut off a few areas for a few hours. Most district 12 residents heat their homes with gas or firewood and very few rely on electricity. Even the bakery ovens run on gas and wood, I think. Electricity is mostly a commodity rather than a necessity around here."

At the end of our tour snowfall started again, and I visited the Madison family, asking if everything was all right in their home. From the back porch of their home one could look around, and they had noticed that main power was out. Mrs. Madison was concerned: "How long will power here last now that main power is out?"

I replied: "Don't worry about that. Out power supply on site is fully independent of main power from the city, and all of our power lines are underground. We might have to save on spending if we have full cloud cover and no wind, but with an ongoing snowstorm the wind generators can supply more than what we need already. I need a reliable power supply for my work, and this a perfect test environment to see how well it actually performs."

Rue had noticed me and asked: "Can I come over with you for some time, please?"

I looked at her mother and commented: "I am done with my work for today. If you don't mind, your daughter is welcome to join me. Actually, would your husband and you want to come as well, and maybe we can spend a few hours to relax in front of the fireplace?"

She smiled and added: "Great idea. I'd love to, and let me just check if my husband likes the idea as well."

He did, and soon all four of us walked back to my home. I told my housekeeper that we had company and asked her to prepare supper for all of us. We made ourselves comfortable in the big living room, with a fire raging in the fireplace and nice look outside through the big thick paned windows. As I liked the idea of having big windows in my living room, but hated to lose too much energy through them, I had special insulation windows installed, manufactured by one of the companies owned by my family. Special reinforced panes were also a good idea as hail was not exactly rare in this region.

Most of the evening we were just sitting here in semidarkness, looking out to see the city of Panem, which was today only partially lighted. Apparently not only district 12, but also some other areas were affected by the power outage. We had supper together and talked about various topics, and finally I mentioned that I'd want to get to bed early, because I was going to operate my Unimog again tomorrow morning for snowploughing. Rue looked at me, and looking her in the big doe like eyes I was able to anticipate the question she was going to ask; thus I smiled and asked: "Would you want to stay here for the night?" She only nodded, but seemed to be happy that I invited her.

Mrs. Madison told me: "Well, she needs a restful sleep again, I guess. Bring her back tomorrow?"

I nodded: "I will do that of course. If she wants, I can take her on the snowploughing ride tomorrow, and we should be back before noon – good enough for you?"

Mrs. Madison confirmed: "My husband and I will be happy to have a chance to sleep in for one day! Most of the time we can't because Rue is up very early..."

She did not have to continue, as I understood that their sleep was normally frequently interrupted by Rue's nightmares. Rue and I said good night to her parents, I informed Mrs. Miller about our guest, and after a bathroom visit and myself changing into my comfortable home clothes Rue and I sat down on the couch, watching the remaining embers of the big fire we had had in the fireplace. While I leaned back, Rue wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her head on my chest, and a few minutes later she was asleep.

As I had asked, Mr. Miller came in early on the next morning to wake me up. I wanted to make sure to be up early to check the situation and react accordingly. As we had gone to sleep early last night, Rue also was quite rested, and I asked if she wanted to join me for a ride. She nodded, and after a quick breakfast we went down to the parking area and I started my fully charged Unimog again.

When we were out of the underground parking area, we found that quite some more snow had fallen during the night, so that the total accumulation was now more than half a meter. My sturdy vehicle got to work, and I more or less cleared the same streets as I had cleared on the day before. Again, no city vehicle was around; I assumed that the city vehicles were busy to clear the streets of what the city bosses considered more important districts. When we passed the Everdeen home, I could see Prim looking out of a window, and when she saw my truck, she came running outside quickly. I stopped and waved for her to jump in, so that I had two enthusiastic girls joining me for the remainder of my snow clearing run. On the side towards the forest I also stopped to saw what happened there, and I was glad to see a few young men again operating the snowblower to gain access to the supply of firewood. For next year. I thought, I might want to place the emergency supply closer to the Seam.

Over the next few days the total snow accumulation added up to slightly more than one meter, which was more than a typical winter provided, even here in district 12. Thanks to the preparations we had done before, nobody had to die due to lack of food or lack of heat, and Mayor Undersee was very happy to learn about that. I promised to write a report on everything together with his daughter Madge, who worked as kind of an interface person between my site and the district office; the good Mayor wanted to be prepared for coming years and winters. I knew that he was in a somewhat difficult situation as he did not get the resources he needed from Panem, and he had to work with the limited means he had access to.

I did not tell him that right away, but this was one of the reasons my site was here. Everybody could set up power plants and other things with almost unlimited resources, but we wanted to find out what could be done in areas of the world with very limited resources and means, and although Panem had plenty of resources, distribution was an issue, and district 12 was definitely unprivileged. In addition the harsh and varied weather conditions made for an almost ideal test environment.

Once the blizzard was over and more or less normal winter conditions had settled in, Wiress came over again and reminded me that I had promised to get her started. I walked us over to the main admin building and we sat together with Haymitch for some paperwork and conversation. Fortunately the sun was out again, although at quite low temperatures, and I suggested that Haymitch should give her a guide tour until the sun was going down again.

When I talked to Haymitch a few days later, once school had started again after the winter holidays, he told me that Wiress had asked a few very smart question during the tour and that he was looking forward to working with her.

_[Author's Note: Due to the very low number of views, favorites, and reviews I am not sure it it makes sense to continue the story. I'd appreciate a few reviews a lot to learn about reader opinion!]_


	14. Chapter 14 - Dr Aurelius' explanation

**Chapter 14: Dr. Aurelius' explanation**

A long winter was finally gone, and around Easter time the first signs of spring were visible. Seam residents started to do some long overdue spring cleaning in their houses, my farmers got busy on the fields, the birds tried to compete with each other by singing with full force, and nature started to show off. I spent a lot of time outside to review how well my equipment had endured the harsh winter and to plan for the summer.

Prim and Rue had been frequent visitors at my place, and several times a month Rue stayed at my home to sleep in my arms, always with her parents' permission and on the couch of course; I got quite used to that and found myself looking forward to those special nights. Prim and Rue were regular visitors at my home again on Wednesdays, when we talked, had a snack, and I supervised the girls doing their homework. Sometimes the girls shared some of their thoughts and observations, and in particular Rue seemed to enjoy talking about her thoughts and feelings with me, some of them quite personal. Lots of that stuff was related to school, like which teachers were good and which ones were not, kids bullying other kids, and some details on which boy liked which girl and vice versa. When the latter was mentioned, I once teased Rue by asking if she had a boy she was sweet on, but she always looked up at me, shaking her head and saying something like "Why would I be sweet on a boy at school when I like you so much". Hearing that I smiled, hugged her tightly and kissed her on the forehead.

After the Easter holidays Mr. and Mrs. Madison asked for some time to talk, and we sat down together outside on the porch after lunch on a fine spring day.

Mrs. Madison started: "You know, Mr. Sinterguth, that we have been concerned about Rue's nightmares for a long time, and we all have noticed that your presence seems to help a lot. We are of course very grateful for that, but a permanent solution would be good. Dr. Aurelius, whom we have visited a few times, has recently suggested to run a few more tests about the sleeping habits in a special sleep lab place they have in the hospital. They would like to observe Rue sleeping alone and with you, and we kindly ask if you would be able to spend a few nights staying there for their tests."

I had heard about those sleep labs before. Doctors would attach all kind of sensors to a person's body and mainly the head, to not only monitor heart rate and blood pressure, but also brain waves and such, and people suffering from insomnia or similar might find some help there. I was not sure how going there would help Rue, but I knew Dr. Aurelius, and if he suggested it, I would willingly comply, so that I replied:

"I know Dr. Aurelius well enough to trust his judgment in medical matters. If he believes that this is a good idea, I will do my best to help for sure."

Rue's parents smiled now, and Mrs. Madison said: "Thank you very much for your cooperation. Dr. Aurelius mentioned that last week of April would be good for the examinations – how would that work for you?"

I excused myself to have a look at my calendar, and when I returned I nodded: "Yes, that week would be fine. Do you know for how long I will be required there?"

Mr. Madison elaborated: "The good doctor said that they would first check how Rue sleeps on her own for a few days, than two or three nights together with you, and a few again on her own, so that you should plan to be there for two or three nights; you can probably get back here during the day, I assume."

"Sounds good" I stated. "I will call Dr. Aurelius to confirm that and ask for a few more details."

Spring was a great time of the year. Nature was recovering from winter, and people started to work on all kinds of things. Prim and a few other kids had begun to get the herb garden in order and check which plants had survived and which ones had not; Mr. Brown and his hands were busy ploughing the fields and do the first seeding, and my good Mrs. Miller was cleaning the windows and curtains. She and her husband always made sure that my home was in pristine condition, which I appreciated a lot.

Haymitch and I checked proper operations of all wind generators and solar panels, and we took Wiress with us whenever she could afford the time. Her intellect allowed her to complete homework in a very short time, and this enabled her to work with us for a few hours on almost every day. Typically she worked with us first when coming home from school and did her homework when daylight was gone. Both Haymitch and I were delighted to see how quickly she learned about the site and the technical aspects, and soon she started to provide interesting ideas on how to improve things further. I promised her that she could have a full time job as soon as she was done with school, and she could decide if she rather wanted to do 'learning on the job' with us or attend some higher education at the university in my home city. This university had a special branch for the highly intelligent students, and I was almost sure that she would fit right in.

With the extended field work, including the new orchard, we got an increasing amount of bio waste, and one of our main tasks this year was to find good applications for that. The most likely approach was a biomass plant, which generated electrical energy from the slow composting of the biomass, and we decided to make an effort to find out how to do this best with the least amount of remaining waste and pollution. At the current stage the process was not very efficient, and lots of remaining waste came out; we wanted to improve that but did not yet know how.

Last year we had set up the solar panels covering part of a field at different distances. My farmers' daughter Camilla was getting very interested in those topics and sat together with me for some time to come up with a plan coordinating which plants to plant where, to find out exactly how well that worked and to what extent those structures reduced the harvest amount.

Last week of April had arrived; I had called Dr. Aurelius before to learn what to expect, and on the arranged day I drove downtown to the hospital with my overnight bag. I met the doctor in his office and he explained a few more details: "Rue has been here for a few nights already, and we have finished the initial checks on her. For the next few nights we want her very close to you, and we need to take measurements from both of you. We need you to sign a document that you agree to the checks and specifically allow us to watch you all night long; I hope that this will not disturb your sleep too much."

I replied: "It has been a long time that my sleep was carefully watched, probably last when I was a toddler or so. Let's see how this works out."

I had made sure that I was at least somewhat tired by getting up very early in the morning, as Dr. Aurelius had suggested in our phone call before. He showed me to the lab, and the supervision would be done through a glass panel which allowed viewing in only one direction, so that the medical staff could see us, but we could not see out, like in a police interrogation room. However, there was a comfortable looking queen size bed and an attached bathroom, this one without a glass panel. Lights were going to be dimmed to almost darkness, and watching would primarily be done with infrared.

Soon Rue was guided into the room, and as soon as she noticed me, she gave me a hug. I could easily see that she had not slept too well in the last few nights; her eyes told the tale for those who knew what to look for. Both of us went to the bathroom, one after another, to change into pyjamas, and finally multiple electrodes were attached to our bodies and heads.

We were now allowed to make ourselves comfortable in the bed, which we did. Without hesitation Rue rested her small head on my chest and wrapped one of her skinny arms around me. As usual, she was asleep within less than ten minutes, and it did not take much longer for me, even considering the unusual environment.

I did not recall a single sleep interruption when I woke up in the morning by hearing some muted voices. Dr. Aurelius was now in the room together with Rue's parents, and Rue also yawned and was awake. They asked us a few questions on how well we had slept, and both of us confirmed that it had been a good sleep. Dr. Aurelius shook his head: "This is almost unbelievable. According to my measurements, this was not just a good sleep, but an excellent and very restful one. Both of you were asleep for almost the entire time. Both of you experienced some REM phases, but the dreams must have been either neutral or nice ones; nothing even remotely close to a nightmare. I have rarely had anybody in the sleep lab with such a sound sleep."

For the next night Dr. Aurelius wanted us to sleep in separate rooms, both of us wired. He told us that this sleep had been okay, but far less good than the night before. When we spent another night together with the same result as before, he shook his head and admitted: "I have not seen anything like that before. I have read reports in medical papers about a special bond between two people and how they feel much better when being together, but this is the first time I have observed that on my own. There is not even a proper medical term for it, but some people might call it 'Soul Mates'. I do not have a proper medical explanation for it."

Dr. Aurelius continued to run more tests, the final ones again just with Rue, and I was dismissed and could drive home.

A few weeks later the doctors had completed the analysis, and the Madison family and I were called in for a discussion. With Rue waiting outside, Dr. Aurelius explained:

"As we know, Rue has nightmares quite frequently, and we know that the nightmares have been triggered by the car accident years ago, where she had to witness some of her relatives including her sister being killed. Normally those nightmares abate over the years, but due to another medical condition Rue has, this does not happen. Mr. Sinterguth, Mr. and Mrs. Madison have signed a document giving me permission to share other aspects of Rue's health with you. She has a very rare illness, which affects certain aspects of her body. One aspect is the situation with her nightmares. For most people those abate with time, but not with Rue's illness. Specifically, medication which we could give her is not effective, and stronger medication would damage her body. The same illness also causes her body to grow more slowly than usual and stay on the skinny side; it also prevents puberty to set in. You have certainly noticed that she does not look like a girl almost 13 years old, but more like 10 years old or less. This does not affect her brain directly, and she is smart enough for sure to get along at school quite well, except for the mobbing of course, due to her skin color and her petite and diminutive figure."

When I had heard that I did not reply right away, but just nodded, hoping that Dr. Aurelius would continue, which he did:

"Regarding that illness, there is very little we know about it, as it is so rare. We do not know if it is life threatening or not, and we do not know what future symptoms might be, and we do not know if proper medication can be found to fight it. As for most other illnesses, it is important to strengthen body and mind as much as possible. I know that Rue and Mr. Sinterguth are allowed sometimes to rest and nap together, and for Rue's benefit I strongly suggest to continue that at least once a week, and have them spend time together above and beyond that as well, at least for the time being. A rested, well fed and happy person can fight an illness much better than an exhausted, hungry, and sad one."

Both the Madisons and I needed a few minutes to digest that, and I confirmed: "I am glad that we now live close together. From my point of view, I can only repeat what I told you before. I really like Rue and I like to spend time with her, and I am totally open to any time she wants and can spend with me and you allow."

Mrs. Madison now had tears in her eyes and replied: "Thank you so much!"

After that I had a session with Dr. Aurelius alone, and he asked a few additional questions: "Mr. Sinterguth, can you please try to be as honest as possible and tell me how you feel about Rue. I do not want to pry, but this is important to understand the context."

I nodded and started: "Well, at first there was just some kind of curiosity, when I saw her first at Prim's birthday last year. Most of the time she was sitting by herself, she looked much younger, and she had darker skin. Already after that day I found myself thinking about her a few times, until I got a few more details from Prim. Later on, when we visited her at the hospital during your long initial examination, I had a chance to talk a little with her, and I found that I liked talking to her. When we visited the zoo and she got tired, she took a nap in my lap for some time, and I found, to my own surprise, that I really enjoyed that. Finally, in the last months when she had a regular nap at my side a few times a month, I found that I immensely enjoy that, and I think about her a lot. Sometimes when we are together I can see in her eyes what she wants to say or what she needs."

Dr. Aurelius nodded and said: "That is about what I thought. Now try to imagine what would happen if you felt the same about a girl ten years older, about your own age – what would you think?"

I pondered this for a while and answered: "Difficult to answer. Based on my experience with girls and women I have always preferred younger girls for company for various reasons, and this was also apparent when I was a youth group leader for some time. I am not sure if I could feel for an adult woman like I feel for Rue now, but if I could, I probably would tell her that she is the love of my life and propose."

Dr. Aurelius nodded again: "Again what I expected. Mr. Sinterguth, from what I have seen and heard so far it looks like you are in love with her, not like you'd want to rip off her clothes and have sex, but real and unconditional love, true love without many expectations. From her side it seems to be the same, although the situation is somewhat complicated by her tender age and specifically as her puberty phase has not even started yet. I also understand why you sometimes prefer to be with younger girls. You are a very technical person and prefer to talk straight rather than wrapping content in nice words, and a lot of adults in our culture do not like this at all, whereas kids are much more likely to do the same. You kept your child like attitude to some extent, and from what I have learned about Rue, she is likely to do the same."

Pondering that I smiled and said: "Yes, you may be right about my child like attitude; somebody told me once that I am not an adult but a child with a driver's license!"

Dr. Aurelius smiled and nodded: "Yes, this is about what I meant, indeed, and this is actually not bad at all."

"But", I started to object, "I am not supposed to be in love with a young girl – this is not right!"

"Does not the Bible ask everybody to love each other?" Dr. Aurelius responded.

"Yes, but..." I started but did not know how to continue.

"The problem is", Dr. Aurelius continued, "that love has multiple facets, and one word is used to cover many different aspects. Most humans love their parents and grandparents unconditionally and enjoy being close to them, at least for the first one or two decades of their life. Most people love their brothers and sisters and other relatives to some extent. Some young people love their teachers, others love their nanny, and some feel a kind of love for almost all other human beings. Lots of people love their pets, and some claim to love their car or their house or other objects. Some people call it love if they feel bodily attraction and want to have sex with each other, and so on. All of this happens."

Thinking about it I nodded and the doctor continued: "What you seem to feel for Rue and what she seems to feel for you is very rare and a special kind of love. Proven by your sleep patterns, both your bodies and minds enjoy being close to each other, and your behavior and movements while sleeping have shown that you both tried to arrange your bodies in a way to make sleeping comfortable for each other. As mentioned before, I have heard this kind of connection being called 'Soul Mates', which might indeed be an appropriate term."

Dr. Aurelius further explained: "Normally, for children who have not started puberty, personal feelings are subject to change, and kids having a crush at the age of ten or eleven are usually over that a couple of years later and develop other feelings. During my thesis on psychology I actually investigated such cases over some years, and I have collected rare examples of feelings which extended above and beyond. Those 'Soul Mate' feelings and connections are most likely to last for a lifetime, I have learned, like a permanent programming of the brain."

I nodded again without saying anything, thinking that I liked the phrase 'Soul Mates', and the good doctor elaborated further: "In an ideal world, we would allow Rue and you to live together effective immediately, and this would be the best for her health, and good for you as well. In our real world, though, this would get all of us in trouble and you potentially in jail, due to her age. And rightfully so, because a relationship between an adult and a minor can be very easily exploited and abused, and it is difficult to distinguish between justified such relations, which yours would most likely be, and others. The only safe approach is to make such relations illegal until the younger partner has reached legal marriage age."

"Even having her at your home overnight can be a difficult situation. Please make sure that you are always on the couch in a public room, never in your bed with her, and please also make sure that you are never alone at home when she stays. I understand that you have a housekeeper family living in the house; best give them standing orders to check on you a couple of times whenever Rue stays. This is not because I would not trust you, but for your own safety. Most people would simply consider it cute and sweet when seeing you and Rue together, but a few might consider it child abuse, even with parents' approval."

I started to think that the doctor's explanations were finished, but he had one final point: "Sorry that I need to ask about that, but how does your body cope with Rue being close at times?"

As I was not quite sure what he was hinting at I asked: "What do you mean?"

"Well", Dr. Aurelius elaborated, "your are a young and healthy man, and having a young girl close to you for extended periods of time is likely to trigger some reaction in private parts of your body..."

I must have blushed and needs a few seconds to catch what he was getting to, and I responded hesitantly: "You have a point, and there are reactions, of course. I always try my best to have her either beside me or on my chest rather than on my hip to avoid direct contact there. Nevertheless I mostly wake up with a boner, but this also happens when I sleep on my own."

The doctor nodded: "Do you feel an urge to get close to Rue and do things with her?"

I probably blushed again, but responded: "I cannot deny the fact that I sometimes have quite specific thoughts and dreams about that. However, thinking about her tender body is more than enough to drive those thoughts away. Long term, though, this could be a problem. You see, I am seriously considering to propose to her when she is old enough, and having her that close for five years or more is going to be very tough for me, and I do not know if I can stand this."

The good doctor nodded again: "Yes, I see. Let me know if your body's reactions are getting too strong, and I might have something to get that under control. About the long term planing, I thought so, with your soul mate bonding, and I am also thinking about what can be done about it."

That seemed to conclude the doctor's explanations, and I assume that he had told Mr. and Mrs. Madison about the same story, hopefully excluding the last part. This day's conversation gave me a lot to think about, indeed.

_[Author's notes: I do not know if such an illness really exists; this is a product of my fantasy. REM = 'rapid eye movement', which indicates dreaming. Please do let me know what you think about my story and post a review!]_


	15. Chapter 15 - Rue's 13th birthday

**Chapter 15: Rue's 13th birthday**

Spring had turned into summer, and we followed the medical advice about Rue spending more time with me. Usually she slept over at my home one or two nights on the weekends, and we saw each other occasionally during the week, including the traditional Wednesday afternoons with Rue and Prim coming right after school. Sometimes we went to church together on Sundays, and I introduced Rue to some parishioners of 'Our Savior Lutheran Church', which was located a few kilometers down the road towards the city. Rue liked that a lot, and although her parents were not members of a church, Rue was allowed to attend Sunday School. Contrary to school, mobbing and bullying there was quite under control, and she even made a few new friends.

Rue's thirteenth birthday was getting close now, and I had started to reflect on what I could get her as special present. Last year I had taken Prim and her to the zoo, and now I was sitting together with Prim to plan a nice surprise for Rue's birthday again this year.

"We could go to the Botanical Garden" I suggested. "Last year I had thought about that already, and you could come with us as well as Wiress."

Prim nodded and also made a suggestion: "You could also invite us to an amusement park. None of us have ever been, because it's expensive, and I have heard that this can be lots of fun!"

"Yes", I commented, "but we do not know at all if Rue likes roller coasters and such – what if she gets sick?"

Prim understood: "Maybe we should check with Rue's parents and find out if they have a good idea?"

I agreed, and I used the next opportunity to ask them. They smiled, and Mrs. Madison had an idea indeed: "Rue has mentioned a few times that the teddy bear she uses to cuddle in bed is so small, and I have a feeling that she would love to get a real large one, and such a stuffed animal might also help her with sleeping – is that something you would like to take care of?"

Indeed I liked that idea a lot and thus smiled and confirmed: "Yes, it is, for sure – thank you for the advice, Mrs. Madison!"

I thought about the idea with the amusement park as well. While Rue and other kids might not be fans of wild roller coasters – as a matter of fact, most children in the district probably never had a chance to ride any at all – maybe we could pick a park which also had tame and easy rides, so that everybody could go for what they preferred? Actually, I was thinking about a summer team event for my employees and families, and this time I planned to make it a surprise for Prim as well. Of course, strictly spoken, Prim was not an employee of mine, but Katniss was, and Prim was part of her family.

While also looking for large teddy bears in the internet, I searched for amusement parks in the area, and soon I found one which had a mix of various rides, with the majority of them suitable for children of various ages and not being extreme. I had not been there yet, but there was a friend of mine who had, and I called him to get some details. As I was very happy about what I heard, I talked to Haymitch about setting up a company team event for employees and families, also including business partners like Peeta Mellark and his father. We were going to order a bus to get us there and back, and everybody was getting free admission and lunch and drinks. We were planing to spend the entire day there, and I picked a day which had a fireworks display in the evening after extra long opening hours. Of course the park had lots of rest areas and picnic benches for those who needed a break. Haymitch was tasked to write the invitations, as we needed to know at least roughly how many would want to come.

While Haymitch started the invitations, for a day about a week after Rue's birthday and of course on a school holiday, I got back to the teddy bear issue. I had a specific idea and did not really find what I was looking for in shops in Panem. I had a vague idea that it would be good for Rue to have a bed companion which was able to detect when she had a nightmare and start moving when she did, hopefully getting a chance to wake her up. I was not sure if something like that existed, but with the progress in robotics it should. Finally I contacted one my cousins at home and told him what I was looking for. He replied that yes, they had something in this direction, but more in a human shaped doll rather a teddy bear. Listening to my idea he said that a large teddy bear with such capabilities was actually not a bad idea and probably more suitable for children. He promised to talk to some people in the lab and see what they could do in the couple of months left; he would get back to me in a few weeks.

For the next few days I was quite busy checking progress on the site. The biomass plant was going to be extended, and an expert had come from my family site to experiment with the settings to make it more efficient and reduce the amount of waste produced. The battery storage was enlarged, and we used old car batteries for that, which we could get very cheaply. Another variation of a wind generator was installed, and more solar panels rigged. Also, we were digging a couple of more power lines into the ground towards both the Seam and the district's merchant area. Wiress was getting involved a lot in issues related to electrical stuff and was frequently giving helpful advice. Last but not least Mr. Brown continued testing different kinds of grain for the bakery, also based on the detailed feedback we had received from the Mellarks.

One Wednesday I came back home and must have looked a little tired. Prim was just finishing her homework and was about to leave, and she said with some concern: "Timotheus, you look tired today. Maybe you are working too much and need some rest?"

I smiled and told her: "As a matter of fact, I have a team event planned soon, including families. As Katniss' sister, you are invited, too, and Katniss should have received an invitation."

Prim jumped up and down with excitement: "Sounds great – what are we going to do?"

I smirked: "This is a surprise, even for nosy blonde girls!"

She pretended to be offended, but soon laughed again and left for home.

Soon I started to get replies from employees telling me if they wanted to attend or not. Most of them wanted, specifically as I was giving that day off for everybody, but some declined for various reasons I was not privy to. Katniss was going to come together with Peeta and Prim, and I heard later that Katniss did not really want to, but Peeta talked her into it.

Mrs. Madison told me that both she and her husband did not really like big events, and if I would mind just taking Rue and Wiress and giving them both a day to rest; I suspected that they were still bothered by Rue's nightmares and gladly accepted, and I also offered to keep Rue at my home for the night after.

My housekeeper family all planned to come and so did Annie and Finnick. Those two were fully recovered, and they had moved into a house on my site earlier in the year. Since early spring they were spending much time at the big lake I wanted to use as upper level basin for my big hydro storage plant, trying to figure out how it could best be used.

A few weeks prior to the planned event I had a god overview on who would come, and Haymitch started to order a bus and pre-book the proper amount of tickets to the park.

Rue's 13th birthday was today, I recalled when waking up. I wondered who else was invited, as I knew that Rue did not have many friends, but I was happy to know that at least the Madisons were living in a decent house now. Fortunately, my present for Rue – a prototype teddy bear with some special features, about as tall as Rue herself – had been delivered from my cousin a few days earlier, and I was quite curious to find out how Rue might like it. The day was a school day, so that the celebration was planned to happen in the afternoon at the Madison residence. Nothing special was planned, just a table with tea, coffee, juice, and cakes (from the Mellark bakery of course). I had volunteered to pick up Rue and Prim from school, and I was there just in time to see two very excited young girls running out and jumping towards the parking area. They both hugged me and I said "Happy Birthday, and a good start into your teenage years!" to Rue; I got them into the car and we drove to the Madison house.

Besides the Madison family, Prim's mother was already here; she had helped with preparations. Wiress and Monica would join later after school, and a few other children from my other employees had arrived as well. After we had helped ourselves to cake and drinks, Rue started to unpack her presents. Prim and Mrs. Everdeen had got her a set of ointments for her skin and a set of beautiful flowers from the herb garden, and from her own parents she got a new school pack and a couple of dresses and skirts. Finally Rue started to work on the huge box which held my present, and she could not really guess what might require such a big packing. I had spent some additional effort to pack the teddy bear in multiple layers, and now I had quite some fun watching Rue removing layer after layer until she could finally grasp what was inside. I had suggested before that Prim take some pictures with her camera, and she caught Rue' expression when she finally saw the bear, big doe eyes and dropped jaw and all. When she had finally grasped what it was, she jumped into my lap and hugged me tightly: "Thank so much – the teddy bear looks so adorable!"

I smiled and told her: "Yes, I agree that it does. By the way, it has some special features and can be programmed. For instance, it can feel when you move in your sleep, potentially due to having a bad dream, and it can also make some limited movements, mostly with the arms and paws. You can program and recharge via a USB connector."

Mrs. Madison looked at me and asked: "How did you get something like that? I did not know that something like this even existed!", and even Wiress was quite impressed.

I replied: "This is a prototype from my family's company, and it is not yet available in stores, but maybe it will in a couple of years."

Rue had jumped back from my lap, placed the teddy bear on a chair – not without some effort, as the bear's weight was about 33kg – and placed herself in the bear's lap. As I had charged the toy before and done some basic programming, the teddy bear slowly rotated its arms around Rue and touched her back, moving the paws up and down slowly. Rue had closed her yes and did not notice at first that it was the bear petting her back and rather assumed that some of us was doing that, until Prim asked her: "Do you like the bear stroking your back?"

Rue suddenly had her eyes wide open and saw what was going on. Apparently she was having a hard time finding proper words: "Wow … this is nice!"

A few minutes later Rue asked: "What's his name, by the way?"

I answered: "There is no name yet – you can select a proper one."

Right away Rue smiled and informed us: "Okay, I will call the teddy bear 'Timmy', or maybe 'Little Timmy', I think".

Prim laughed: "How can you call a teddy bear which is almost larger than you are 'Little'?"

Mr. and Mrs. Madison looked a me and happily said: "Thank you very much for that, Mr. Sinterguth. You could not have selected any better present, and you have certainly made her day."

I smiled and replied: "You are very much welcome, and I get enough reward by seeing your daughter happy."

Turning back to Rue I added: "Once you got used to your new friend, you may want to get some help programming it. I could imagine that Wiress would be quite happy helping you with that. As it is a prototype, there is no full instruction manual included, but once you connect to a PC or mobile device, you will find some on-screen guidelines."

Well, it certainly turned out that Rue had a new best friend, and she was like glued to the bear's lap for the next few hours. To check how the new friendship had developed, I checked back with her a few days later, and she very happily told me that she slept so much better next to the bear in her bed, or rather, she sheepishly admitted, sometimes right on the bear. She had found out that the teddy actually sensed sometimes when she was waking up or having a nightmare or anxiety attack and reacted by moving arms and paws and stroking and soothing her, adding some low frequency humming, which she had already grown to like and which helped her to relax again. I was glad to hear that and was very happy for her.

After a couple of more busy weeks on the site the big day for the amusement park visit was there, and I got up in the morning feeling excited. Looking out of the window I saw a few dark clouds, but the weather forecast had promised that no rain was likely to fall, and the sun should be able to drive away the clouds around noon time.

I had asked all participants to arrive at the big parking area on my site no later than 8:00 in the morning; with the bus ride taking about 45 minutes, we wanted to be there in time for the park opening at 9:00. It turned out that the bus was barely large enough to get all of us in, and there were only a couple of seats left unfilled. Everybody had great fun during the drive, and eventually we arrived at the park ten minutes before opening. Some of us used the opportunity to go to the restroom, and right at 9:00 am I got to the cashier, and we could get all of us in. The park was nicely designed, with a lot of trees, partially hiding some attractions. Morning temperatures were mild and not yet hot, and we soon decided to split up, as some younger people wanted to go right to the big roller coasters, whereas others preferred the less violent rides. Rue and Prim decided to hang out with me, and Monica Miller joined us as well.

Walking towards one side of the park, I guided the girls to a moderate roller coaster called "Plohseidon", and we could get right into a car. For the first ride I had Monica beside me and Rue was sitting next to Prim. The ride was nice for a start and not violent at all, and we all found that we could get more of that, so that we got in for a second ride. Prim asked: "This is fun! Are there more roller coasters around?"

I smiled and replied: "Sure are. Let's go!"

Close to the center of the park I knew that they had an indoor coaster, and I went straight to this one. After entering the building, we had to walk through some dark passages, possibly to get our eyes used to the dark. Spooky music could be heard, and while we waited for the next train to arrive, an animated story was shown on the other side of the track about some Red Indian and ghosts. Soon the car arrived and we got in. This ride was a little faster than the previous one, but the girls had fun. Once we had taken the ride three times in a row I asked if they were up for the big wooden roller coaster "El Toro", and Rue replied: "Maybe we can look at it first?". We got on a bench to look, and the girl's jaws dropped a little bit when they saw how fast the cars of that ride went. Rue and Monica decided to sit it out, but Prim took the ride with me two times and had great fun. Once done with that I took the kids to a relaxing part, the "Vulkan" floats, gently moving in a small lake and passing animated dinosaur representations.

At lunch time we all met at one of the park's self service restaurants, where an area was reserved for us outside. Everybody could have what they wanted, and soon the talking was replaced by chewing, although some of the kids managed to do both at the same time. A group of adults decided to sit there for some more time, to enjoy the sunshine and talk, but the kids and most younger adults were soon ready to hit the rides again.

Annie and Finnick came with Wiress and asked which kids wanted to go for a water slide, and lots of children jumped up. I took Prim's camera and volunteered to take pictures, and they ran towards the one in the center of the park, where one embarked into some kind of hollow log, which was first pulled upwards and later sliding down a long and steep slope. I found a good observation place and prepared the camera by switching into video mode; five minutes later the first log with our kids arrived and I recorded a small video with them sliding down and screaming.

Soon after Annie and Finnick came out again with kids trailing them, and most of them were partially wet. Rue and Prim beamed, and Rue jumped into my arms right away: "Tim, that was so much fun – I want to go again – come with me, please?"

I laughed: "Rue, you are getting me all wet!"

Rue smiled: "Okay, then it does not matter that you might get more wet by coming!"

I could not defy this logic, handed the camera back to Prim, and went with Rue to line up for the ride again. Three of the other kids were also coming again, and soon we stepped into one of the hollow logs, with me at the back, Rue in right front of me, and the others in the front part. Rue was almost vibrating with all of the fun she was having, and she insisted that I put my arms around her and hold her tightly.

The park also had another water ride, this one with round cars/boats sliding down some kind of rapids, and it was called "Curse of Teutates", related to a Gallic theme. Eight of us could sit in a boat, and quite a few of our group went to check it out. Prim and Rue and I were in one boat together with Annie and Finnick and a few others, and we first enjoyed the view when the boat was pulled upwards. Then the ride down started, and we found that the boat was starting to rotate. The rotation was slow at first, but started to accelerate; quite soon we found ourselves like in a round-about, and some of the girls started to scream from excitement. Just when I thought that this was getting almost too much for fun and some of the girls might throw up from motion sickness, the rapids abated out into clear water towards the exit, and the rotation slowed down again. When getting out of the boat a minute later, both Prim and Rue staggered and seemed to be unable to walk straight; they were clearly feeling giddy from the fast rotation before, and I held both of them steady with my arms while getting out of the place. However, a few minutes later they had recovered and wanted to go again. Clearly they had fun.

Later on, after many more rides and lots of fun, all of us were gathering around a small lake to prepare for watching the fireworks. As expected, Rue soon moved close to me and ended up in my lap, and she was quite in awe watching the show. When the fireworks display was finally completed and everybody was applauding, Rue leaned her head into my chest, and said, looking up at me with her big doe eyes: "Tim, I am having so much fun today – thank you. But the very best is being with you. Can you be my boyfriend, please?"

I did not have an immediate answer for that question, and the only reply I was able to stutter out was that I needed to think about it, though for other reasons than Rue might suspect.

_[Author's Note: I used the general layout and some attraction types and names from a German amusement park called "Freizeitpark Plohn" - this is one of my favorites in real life. About the programmable teddy bear, I do not know if something like that really exists, but I could imagine this to be helpful as therapy for abused children and such.]_


	16. Chapter 16 - The first date

**Chapter 16: The first date**

_**[Important note: Due to the extremely low number of views and reviews for this story, I believe that it does not match what fanfiction readers like to see. For the time being, further updates will be slow to nil, unless readers send reviews to convince me otherwise. No complaints here – I am quite new to fanfiction writing, and I need to learn. Hopefully my other Hunger Games story finds better acceptance.]**_

Rue's question at the park had caught me by surprise. In hindsight, it should not really have surprised me, as I had well noticed how Rue and I liked each other and how much she enjoyed my company and being close to me. In addition, I also recalled my long talk with Dr. Aurelius. But I could not just accept a thirteen year old girl as girlfriend – this was somehow not right, or was it? Thus, I decided that I needed to talk to her parents.

A couple of days later Rue was spending the evening with Prim, and Mr. and Mrs. Madison accepted my invitation to join me in my home for dinner. Once we had eaten and were sitting in the big living room looking outside, I brought up the issue of Rue's question, adding that I did not know what to do. On one hand I really liked Rue, and if she was a few years older, I probably would not hesitate to agree. On the other hand, I was almost twice her age, "and I could not really have a thirteen year old girlfriend, or could I?" I told them.

Mrs. Madison nodded and said after listening: "I am not really surprised to hear that, and we understand your concerns. Seeing the way Rue behaves with you, how she trusts you, enjoys to sit in your lap and all that, this was to be expected, specifically after the sleep lab tests and the doctor's statement. My husband and I were already considering stopping Rue spending that much time with you, but we cannot avoid to see how good you are for her. She has not been that happy for years, and there is just no way we would deny her that happiness. We were also concerned, of course, about your feelings and that you might have more important things to do than spending time with her, but we have realized that you are apparently as smitten with her as she is with you."

While I smiled and nodded, Mr. Madison continued: "We have also talked to Dr. Aurelius a lot, and he mentioned his 'soul mate' theory. There is no way to ignore that a special bond exists between our daughter and you, and Dr. Aurelius pointed out that such a bond, as rare as it is, is likely to last for lifetime. The good doctor warned us that things might well go into this direction, and sooner or later Rue would be pushing to get closer to you. My wife and I have spent many hours talking and thinking about it, but it always comes down that we want to do what is best for our daughter."

Mrs. Madison concluded: "Thus, we have reached the decision that, if she really wants you as boyfriend, we are going to allow that. We know by now that you are good for her, and she is obviously good for you, and we also know that you are treating her gently and will not abuse her. We trust you with our daughter."

Mr. Madison added with a smirk: "As father I am probably supposed to add something like 'hurt her and I will break your legs', but all I'm really saying is 'keep your hands above the waist'."

I carefully replied: "Thank you very much for your vote of confidence, Mr. Madison and Mrs. Madison. Please rest assured that I will continue to be gentle to her, and I will not push her into anything."

At this time, I noticed that Rue's father had tears in his eyes, and he finally said: "Come here, let me hug you!".

When we carefully hugged, he added: "Thank you, Mr. Sinterguth, for stepping into our lives!"

Wow, this was not exactly like I had expected the evening to turn out. When we had talked more and the Madisons were home again, I was awake in my bed for a long time, and I almost could not believe that I had just received their blessing to be Rue's boyfriend.

Before I talked to Rue again, I need to talk to my grandfather, too. I called to find out when he was available and took a flight right to my family's main residence on the next day. Grandfather was still the nominal head of the family, and he was considered wise and an authority by all of us. When I arrived in the family headquarters, I found him in his study and hugged him. After a few words of greeting I blurted out what bothered me, about spending so much time with Rue, becoming her boyfriend, maybe neglecting business and all.

Grandfather was relaxed and let me finish, with only a few questions in between, while enjoying his cup of Earl Grey tea. Once I was done, he leaned back in his easy chair and thought for a few minutes, before he replied: "Tim, you have already received good advice from Dr. Aurelius. I fully understand your concerns, but eventually this comes back to relations between people. You are good for Rue, and she is good for you, that is obvious. You have got her parents' permission to be close to her, and as long as you observe the legal limitations, this seems to be all right. Regarding the business side, do not worry about that part. Our family has always operated under our own guidelines, and we have always considered human issues more than business ones. Above and beyond that, do you really feel like you have neglected your work much?"

I pondered this and said: "No, probably not, but if I spend more time with her..."

My grandfather continued: "… it will be time spent well. What do you think will be more important when you are going to be judged by our Lord Jesus Christ at the end of all days – doing well in business or making other humans happy?"

I could not avoid smiling and nodding, but answered: "Sure, but our business also helps other people!"

"This is true", grandfather agreed, "and I appreciate that you are concerned about that. However, you need not do this all alone. Rue is going to be at school a lot and busy with her homework. Spending some evenings and weekends with her and the occasional afternoon will not hurt at all. Haymitch is quite able to cover for you where required, and as I heard, Wiress is eager to take over more work as soon as she graduates."

He thoughtfully added with a smirk: "Summarizing this, you have my blessing as well. I know that you will be careful, but it will work. And, by the way, I expect to receive a few photos with both of you soon; I want to see how cute the two of you look when you are kissing!"

Hearing this I blushed – I had not thought about that part yet, and I admitted to my grandfather that we had not started kissing yet.

My grandfather laughed: "My boy, don't you think that she will want to kiss you sooner or later? Don't tell me that you are not looking forward to that!"

I sheepishly admitted: "I had not thought about that yet, but I guess that you are right."

"Of course I am right!", grandfather laughed, "and, by the way, I insist that you bring her along for our next family party!"

I also talked to my parents, who were busy as usual, and they basically agreed to what grandfather had said. They told me that they were looking forward to visiting me soon and getting to know Rue.

Being back at my own home, I needede to find time to spend with Rue and inform her about my decision. There was no doubt that she'd be quite happy, and I arranged for her to spend time with me for Friday evening. I had received her parents' permission to keep her with me until Saturday afternoon and told her so on Wednesday, when she came around as usual. I had thought about how to tell her properly, and while I knew that she was not a typical girl and in for 'girly' things, I decided nonetheless to prepare something on the romantic side. On Friday afternoon I started to prepare dinner just for her and me on my own, and I added some decoration to the dining corner, including candles. We were in late spring and the temperatures were too high for starting a fire in the fireplace, but I suddenly recalled that I also had a nice porch, so that I decided in a whim to prepare for dinner outside. The sky was clear and no rain expected, so that I laid the table for two, placed a few candles and flower pots around the table and look for anything else I could do. I kind of decided that this was also going to be our first real 'date'. On her side of the table I used a higher chair so that Rue would not sit too low; after all, she was not very tall yet, and I wanted her face at close to my level. Finally, next to the table I placed a small waterspout fountain with soft illumination. Mrs. Miller, my housekeeper, came over to check, added and changed a few details her and there and finally declared the setup ready for a 'fine young lady', as she called it. Mrs. Miller also had volunteered to keep the food warm while we were eating.

About one hour later, at the designated time, Rue walked over, and I opened the door for her. I had dressed more formally than normal, and Rue, who came dressed in just shorts and a T-shirt, raised her eyebrows when she noticed that, asking: "Are we having any specific plans tonight? Am I underdressed or something?"

"Not at all", I responded, "I decided to show off a little tonight in order to create the proper environment to answer a very specific question I have been asked lately. Will the young lady please follow me out to the porch?". With that I offered her my arm.

Rue was quite perplexed now. She was not used to me talking like that, and her first instinct made her look around to find the 'lady' I had mentioned, before she noticed that I must have been addressing her. She probably blushed, but due to both the dim lighting and her dark skin that was not quite visible. Finally she took my arm and allowed me to guide her outside. Rue noticed the table, the candles, the fountain, and the decoration, and eventually asked: "Is it somebody's birthday today or some other celebration I may have missed?"

I smiled, guided her to her seat and explained: "No, none of that. As I have said, I wanted to prepare a proper environment to answer the special question I have been asked."

Rue was kind of confused and did not recall that particular question at the moment and thus asked back: "Which question are you talking about?"

Her temporary lapse in memory fit quite nicely into my plans, and I just suggested: "Why don't you enjoy the evening and we will see about that. I hope that you are a little bit hungry?"

That was the keyword, and Rue admitted that she was indeed hungry now. Dusk had arrived, the candles were lighted, and I brought out tomato soup from the kitchen, prepared according to a recipe from my grandmother.

It was quite enjoyable to watch her eating, and to observe that she really liked it. After the soup, I served a variation of fish with potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower – dishes I knew Rue liked to eat – and Rue's eyes were getting even bigger than before. I saw that she was about to ask questions again, but she decided to eat first and ask later. After the main dish the temperature dropped, and I noticed that Rue, who had apparently expected to be mostly inside, was sporting some goose bumps on her arms. I excused myself and grabbed a sweater that she had left in my home a few weeks ago, and I brought it out for her. She looked at me and thanked me, and desert was now served – ice cream with hot raspberry sauce. Before starting to dig in, she pleaded again: "Tim, tell me please, what is going on today?"

At this time I could not resist her pleas any longer, and I told her: "Well, I wanted to make sure that our first date is as nice as possible, and I hope that you like it as well. By the way, I also got you a small present!" and I handed a small wrapped box over to her.

Rue was still confused: "What do you mean 'first date'? Why … Oh no, I did ask you if you could be my boyfriend and..." with that she stopped, opening her eyes and mouth quite wide. After a minute or two looking deep into my eyes she continued: "Does that mean that you actually want to be my boyfriend?"

I nodded decidedly and said: "Yes, it does, and thus the idea with the first date – I hope that you like it!"

Almost faster than I could actually see her move she was out of her chair and in my lap, wrapping her tiny arms around me and hugging me as tightly as she could. Soon I could hear her sobbing into my chest, and I was getting concerned about what might be wrong. However, she managed to utter a few words in between telling me that she was shedding tears of joy and she was so totally happy. It took Rue about ten minutes before she could properly talk again. She refused to leave her position in my lap and said: "I really cannot believe it. You actually prepared all of this just for me?"

I smiled and replied: "What do you say 'just for me'? I carefully prepared this knowing that I was granted the opportunity to have a date with the most wonderful and amazing girl I know, and I am very happy to learn that she actually likes and enjoys it!"

Rue was doubtful: "Do you really believe that I am amazing and wonderful?"

I answered: "What other reason might I have to spend so much time with you? Believe me, I am not after your money!"

Now she laughed: "The pityful allowance I have? No, I do not really think so. But I still find it hard to believe that you actually want to be my boyfriend. You probably have a girl on each finger who wants to date you, and when I asked you last week I was ashamed about myself later on even remotely considering that you might want to have me as girlfriend. By the way, why did you need more than a week to decide? I was kind of afraid that you wouldn't want to be my boyfriend."

"Wow, quite a few questions here", I laughed. "First, it is true that there have been a few girls who would not have minded at all getting close to me in the years before I moved here. However, I do no date a girl just for fun, but only if I have serious feelings for her, and this had not happened before. Second, I needed some time to make up my mind because I needed to talk to some people, mainly your parents for permission, due to your age. It was never a question of me wanting your boyfriend or not, but only if I was allowed to!"

Rue had paid specific attention to some words in particular: "What do you mean by having serious feelings?"

"This caught your attention, right?", I smiled. "Well, indeed I do have feelings for you, and I care very much for you. Having you sitting in my lap with your arms around me is very enjoyable, and I would not mind doing that more frequently at all. But more important I just feel right and complete when I am with you, like this is the way it is supposed to be, and when you are not here I feel that something is missing. I feel very privileged and happy for having you as my girlfriend, my dear Rue!"

Rue was purring now, and by the was she looked into my eyes I knew that she felt the same. I was still a little troubled for having such a young girlfriend, but I loved her, though I did not dare to mention that one yet, I could not avoid seeing that she really liked me, I had her parents' blessing and even some kind of medical approval – what else could I want?

My new girlfriend finished her desert while sitting in my lap, and she finally also unpacked my gift, which was a small silver cross on a chain, to be worn as necklace. We were sitting on the porch for quite some time, and as the sky was cloudless and the air crisp, the stars were shining brightly; contrary to the limited view one had in cities, my home was distant enough from the big city that even the milkyway was visible in such a night. After a couple of hours of watching and not talking much at all, she fell asleep; I carried her over to the couch, changed into comfortable shirt and sweatpants, and placed myself beside her.

When Rue woke up at my side on the next morning, she beamed and whispered into my ear: "Thank you, Timotheus, for the last evening. This was one of the nicest things somebody has ever done for me. I almost cannot believe that I am now your girlfriend, but the idea makes me so happy!"

_[Author's Note: I do not think that I would allow one of my daughters to date a 22 year old man while being 13 years old herself; certainly not. However, this is fanfiction, with the emphasis on FICTION. Let me also confirm that I intend to keep this story T rated, not M.]_

_**[Important note: Due to the extremely low number of views and reviews for this story, I believe that it does not match what fanfiction readers like to see. For the time being, further updates will be slow to nil, unless readers send reviews to convince me otherwise. No complaints here – I am quite new to fanfiction writing, and I need to learn. Hopefully my other Hunger Games story finds better acceptance.]**_


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